A Diamond in the Rough
by mystiquemagic152
Summary: In a world where predecessors define you, I am an anomaly, a mystery. Few know of my gifts and even fewer can comprehend them. My origins are unknown to all, even me. I was chosen to save Auradon, and for the longest time, I thought I could do it on my own. My name is Amara, this is the story of how I emerged from the shadows.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Jafar's grin held that of a wolf, his dark heart warming at the sight of the bundle in his arms. It had taken _years_ to find a master stupid enough to wish him free from his gilded prison, but now freedom was finally upon him. The baby practically screamed bloody murder as it was being held captive. The baby's distress kept Jafar going as the wind briskly pricked his face, even more so as he ran. The dirt of Agrabah's lower streets crunched as he made his getaway, the shouts of the guards being heard not too far behind him.

The former vizier ducked into one of the hidden alleyways of the street, his flowing black robes creating a small cyclone of dirt in its wake. Jafar ducked into a hole in the wall and could hear the muffled sounds of the royal guard running right past the crumbling building. _'Fools'_ , he thought to himself. The Royal Guard of Agrabah was never the smartest bunch. He'd learnt that the hard way when his status had still been intact.

By this time, the baby had been silenced with a sleeping spell. If what Jafar had heard was true, then he knew that he had little time to put his plan into action before he was banished to the infamous Isle of the Lost, where any powers that the evil possessed were to be obliterated, and where all of his other fellow villains had been banished to. The former vizier had kept himself hidden this long, four years after every villain was banished to the Isle of the Lost, but that didn't mean that he would stay hidden forever. Jafar didn't know about the rest of them, but _he_ was going to ensure that his powers remained intact.

The baby wiggled and squirmed in his arms as it tried to get comfortable. Jafar grinned down wolfishly at it. "You're going to be a very important piece in my plan, one day. One day little one, _you_ will be my slave, and I shall have my revenge on your parents. Aladdin and Jasmine will rue the day that they defied me", Jafar cooed to the babe. He raised his hand over the baby, closed his eyes, and began to chant:

 _Isis great mistress I call upon you_

 _I transfer my power to this life anew_

 _This newborn babe I hold in my arm_

 _In whom the power will stay, but cause no harm._

No harm would come to this child, not if the spell were to ever work. Jafar refused to live in a world where magic didn't exist. This spell would ensure that he would have his magic when he was banished. Or so he thought.

* * *

The Royal Palace of Agrabah at that time would've been comparable to a black market bazaar that had been caught by the authorities. Everyone was running somewhere frantically, warning bells being rung, panicking over the kidnapping of the baby princess Amara, not hours ago.

"Find her! I don't care what it takes. Find my daughter, now!", Jasmine shouted at the guards. She paced frantically back and forth in her bedroom as fear and anxiety settled into her heart. She struggled to keep the tears from rolling down her face. She had to remain strong for her people. Her pacing was interrupted as her bedroom door was opened, only to reveal the face of her husband, Aladdin.

His dark russet eyes were alert and focused, and at the same time ridden with exhaustion and fatigue, seeing as they had woken from their deep sleep to find their daughter stolen right from under their nose. Once the couple's eyes locked, Aladdin opened his arms to his wife, and she ran into them without hesitation.

Jasmine's breaths were choppy; they were too choked up with tears to be anything but. She did not merely weep into Aladdin's chest, she sobbed. Their baby, Aziz, was crying too, picking up on his mother's grief for his twin sister. Once her crying spell was over, Aladdin pulled back slightly and slid his hands up to Jasmine's neck. He tilted her face up to meet his and stroked her cheeks tenderly with his thumbs. Their forehead rested against each other as Jasmine struggled to calm her erratic breathing.

"She's gone", Jasmine whispered shakily. "Amara is gone".

"No", Aladdin affirmed. He pulled back and looked his wife in her tear-streaked eyes.

"Don't speak of her as if she's already dead", he whispered soothingly. "Jafar may have Amara-"

"We don't know what he'll do to her. You _know_ how much Jafar hates us. What if-"

"No, Jasmine. We can't afford to think like that. All we can do is hope that she's alright", Aladdin whispered to his distressed wife. Aladdin took in a deep breath and brought Jasmine's lips to his. Their kiss washed all of their troubles away, if only for a brief moment.

"We will find her. I'm not sure how long it will take, but we _will_ find her", Aladdin assured his wife as he slid his arms back around her. By then, it was too late. Jafar had been transported to the Isle of the Lost, the baby along with him.

* * *

"How could I have let her get away?!", Jafar cursed himself, pounding his fists on the decaying desk of his junk shop. He was alone, given that his six-year-old son, Jay, was out on the streets, learning the ways of the pickpocket. The girl had slipped from his grasp just like that, and had stolen his most valuable possession, his spell book. How? Because he had _no_ magic with which to keep her locked up in the attic of the shop, as he had since she was little so that no one would ever know of her existence, not even Jay.

And _why_ did he have no magic? Because _he_ was the idiotic fool that had given it to her in the first place. He thought that by transferring his magic into her, he could control her and make her do his bidding. This is what happened when arrogance got the best of you. _This_ is what he got for home-schooling her and actually teaching her to think for herself.

Jafar kept muttering curses under his breath, because he knew that the minute his powers were transferred back to him while on the Isle, they would be permanently destroyed. As long as they stayed inside someone born of a hero, then they would be preserved. The girl was extremely clever and quick, just like her father. Jafar cursed him as well, just because he could. He pondered what he could do to correct this particular predicament.

He couldn't go to Maleficent with this, _that_ was for sure. If he told her anything of what he had done, Maleficent would steal her away, and if that happened, his magic was as good as gone. Not to mention that he would be destroyed for his secrecy. Even though Maleficent had no magic on the Isle, she had minions to do her dirty work. Not to mention that she'd interfere with his plans.

Jafar ran his fingers up and down his face and groaned in frustration. He couldn't just sit here and wait for an evil scheme to just pop into his head. Wait a minute, of course! That's exactly what he would do: wait. After all he was known for his patience. He had waited many years under that blasted Sultan's rule before he took over. Sure, Jafar's reign was a short one, but it was glorious while it lasted.

Despite who the girl's parents were, there was no way she could've gotten very far, not on her own at least. She was only six years old after all. Jafar smiled as his self-assurance took effect. He spent the rest of the day going on about it as he normally would. The power inside her would sustain her for the most part, so she wouldn't have to eat or drink much, and as long as she didn't die, the power wouldn't return to Jafar and it wouldn't be destroyed. Even more so, Jafar had many years before his plan unfolded. He was sure that he'd think of something.

He had underestimated how clever the girl actually was. He figured that someone would eventually catch her, and since she didn't really talk much, Jafar would smooth everything out, and when that happened, everything would go back to normal.

He was wrong.

* * *

Amara ran through the forests of the far side of the Isle, its residents not far behind her. In the leather satchel that she carried were Jafar's spell book and some gold coins, enough that she could maybe buy her way off the island, but that would probably require her to show her face to someone.

She had found the money by Goblin Wharf, where the food supply ships came from Auradon to bring the leftovers included in their diet. The people of the Isle of the Lost were condemned to lives of poverty, so _anything_ that looked shiny or valuable or anything that fell into both of those categories, well, let's just say they went a little crazy. This is what Amara got for coming out during the day.

It wasn't likely that anyone would recognize her. No one on the Isle had ever seen her face and the only other thing that could've been used to identify her was the serpentine birthmark on the back of her neck. No one on the Isle knew that she even existed, Jafar made sure of that. That was pretty much the only thing that benefitted from her stay at the junk shop. That and she always covered her face with a black cloth. That was basically her whole wardrobe: Black. Black shoes, black pants, black hooded jacket, and a bunch of black shirts that she had stolen from the local villain's clothing store. She found that black was a very useful color in the world of thieves and wanted fugitives.

The only difference between her and the rest of the island thieves was that _she_ stole out of survival, they did it just because. She ran faster and deeper into the woods that had been her home for the past four years, ever since she had escaped from Jafar's stupid shop when she was only six years old. She could hardly believe it herself sometimes.

The shouting that she had heard had begun to fade, most likely because they had given up on chasing her, but Amara was too cautious to believe that _everyone_ was gone. She had to survive, didn't she? She heard the distinct pitter-patter of footsteps against the forest floor, which only made Amara quicken her pace.

Even though she wore a deep black hood and a face cloth, she didn't dare look back. She was focused only on losing the person who still persisted after her. Eventually, she took a side route and found a nice thick oak tree, whose branches snaked out like vines, perfect for climbing, plus it was covered in foliage. It was decaying foliage, but it was foliage nonetheless. To Amara, it was enough to conceal her thin, wiry frame. That was the thing about being small, easier to hide.

She took a running start towards the tree, catapulting herself off one edge and grabbing onto one of the lower branches, lifting herself onto it. Over her years of residence in the woods, tree climbing was something of a second nature to her. She climbed up the tree as fast as she could (which, by the way, was pretty fast for a ten year old), until she reached the top, which wasn't as covered as she would've liked it to be, but it would do.

She clamped her mouth shut, breathing only through her nose should it divulge her location. She stayed still and waited, listening in the forest for the pitter-patter, and not long after, she did. She went completely still and looked down, her pursuer finally coming into her view. The pitter-patter became closer and closer, louder and louder until finally, it stopped.

Amara had to blink twice to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. She leaned down to get a better look. From below her treetop lurked her pursuer. He was just a boy, a boy her age for that matter. She had looked through enough cracks and holes in her attack to recognize the boy. He was Jay, the son of her former captor. He hadn't really changed much. He still had the same shaggy dark hair that ran to the crook of his neck, same complexion as her caramel skin tone, and the same rich, dark eyes. Amara leaned down to get a better look.

Amara could suddenly feel herself slipping from her branch, and before she could grab ahold of it, she was freefalling all the way down. She only had time to gasp before she felt herself being caught in mid-air. The next thing she knew, she was staring at the son of Jafar, his arms supporting her bridal style. The force of the fall had caused her hood and her face cloth to fall off, leaving her face completely exposed.

Amara's heartbeat began to accelerate as she realized that she _was_ in fact exposed. In a fit of instinct to survive, she shoved her hands against his chest and scrambled out of the boy's arms. She rolled onto the ground and sprung back up. She didn't bother to put her hood back on. Jay knew what she looked like now, Jay had seen her face. All she could do was stand there and wait for the young snake to make his next move.

* * *

Jay was a very persistent boy. If he wanted something, he took it; he had learnt that from his father. What he wanted now was the masked thief's loot, and who knew? Maybe Jay would find out who it was. Who was the thief that gave him a run for his money, that stole things under the cover of night, that could slip in and out unnoticed faster than you could say 'Huh?'.

Jay followed the thief into the woods, wanting his shiny gold coins. Maybe _that_ was the Big Score that his father always talked about, the treasure that would one day get them off of the island. With that in mind, Jay persisted. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him and that was barely enough to keep with the thief, and that was saying something. He was quicker than Jay thought. If Jay hadn't been running so hard, he would've stopped and stared in awe.

The thief weaved and snaked through the woods like it was designed just for him. While the thief vaulted over various tree trunks and boulders, Jay would stumble every two minutes, but would that stop the son of Jafar? No. No, it would not. Despite Jay's stumbling, he was right on the masked thief's trail.

The thief then took a side route, slipping into the cracks like an expert. Jay almost would've been jealous. Jay followed the sound of the footsteps until they abruptly stopped. Jay stopped to catch his breath under an old oak tree. The sound of his heartbeat pounded itself into his ears, and his chest heaved up and down as his body tried to suck in enough oxygen.

Once Jay caught his breath, he looked around the forest. He looked to his right, then to his left, then all around, still nothing. There were no twigs snapping, pitter-patter of footsteps, no sounds to indicate where the thief had gone. Then Jay heard the sound of tree bark grinding on something else. ' _Of course',_ Jay thought. ' _Nowhere to go but up. How clever'._

Jay lifted his head to see the thief slipping off of the tree and smirked to himself. ' _Gotcha',_ the boy thought, right before he caught the thief in his arms bridal-style. He was prepared to give this guy some quips about how it was only a matter of time before Jay caught him and how he wasn't really Jay's type, but then he saw the thief's face. The dude was a girl. A _girl_.

Before Jay could form a complete thought, the girl shoved him away, rolling on the ground and ending in a lunge before slowly getting back up. Her dark russet eyes seemed to be focused on him, eyeing him like a hawk, her wavy, midnight black hair so long that it was strewn all across her long, caramel-toned face.

She pulled her face cloth back on and tucked her hair behind her head, her hood going back over her head. Jay wondered why she even bothered, he already knew what she looked like. Then he heard large footsteps, stomping and pounding on the ground like a stampede of elephants. The girl grabbed Jay's arm and yanked him behind the large oak, which was plenty wide to hide both of their small bodies.

Once they were behind the tree, the girl threw her arms around Jay so that his back was to her front. They tightened around him like a vise as the girl covered Jay's mouth tightly, so he could neither move nor speak. Dang, this girl was _strong_. The children could hear the grumbling and grunts of the resident goblins. They always _were_ greedy creatures.

"Where could they be? Jay should be back with the shiny coins by now", rasped one of them.

Jay raised his eyebrows. Seriously? Did those goblins think that they could steal _anything_ from him? Preposterous. Sure, Jay was only ten years old, but he was one of the best thieves on the island. Goblins, steal from _him_? Jay was almost offended before he remembered that goblins were none too smart either.

The children waited in silence until the grunts and groans of the goblins became muffled and more distant. Jay, being arrogant as he was, thought it was safe and tried to wriggle from the girl's iron hold. _Big mistake._ The girl let go of Jay, only for her to push him back up against the tree with such force that it knocked the wind out of him.

Jay was kept against the tree with the girl's forearm, her free hand covering his mouth. _'Seriously?',_ Jay thought. _'I'm getting my butt handed to me by a girl. What is_ wrong _with me?'._

Only when there was dead silence did the girl release her hold on him. Jay stumbled to the side and fell on his butt. Jay's heart was pounding. He was shocked, dare he say, terrified? Yes, he in fact was terrified. He was scared stiff of this girl whom he had just met not two minutes ago, and was frightened of what she might do if he tried to make a run for it.

The girl's head snaked around, eyes darting every which way in search of an unknown threat. There wasn't one, but Jay wasn't about to tell her that. Once the girl was satisfied, she walked over to Jay and clamped her vise grip around his arm, yanking him up off the ground in the process. "Ow. Hey! What was that for?", Jay asked, his fear of the girl replaced with irritation.

"You're coming with me", the girl affirmed, yanking Jay in one direction.

"Why?", Jay snapped.

The girl sighed and closed her eyes as if she were talking to the most imbecilic person in the entire universe. When she opened them back up, the weight of her daunting gaze instantly caused Jay to clamp his mouth shut.

"Because you're gonna help me get off of the Isle".


	2. Kidnapped

**Hello everyone! I am so very excited for this new story and I thank those who take precious time out of their day to read it. Shout-outs to the first followers of this story: Ailee-chan, EternalChild2003, Lunarose jodes, SilverKitsuneGrlAngel, booklover30001, and pinkcrazyness. This one's for y'all. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

It was the night of Prince Ben's coronation. Festivities were being thrown, celebrations were being had, fireworks were going off, and teenagers were having the time of their lives. It was the most celebrated day in Auradon since the villains had been banished. That was what Auradon was right now, just one big celebration. The same could not be said for the Isle of the Lost.

The only good thing that had come out of this was that Maleficent was gone, and the citizens of the Isle would no longer live in fear. Sure, they'd live their lives in bitterness and hatred, but at least fear was no longer part of the equation. In Maleficent's former balcony stood three of the greatest villains that there ever were.

The Evil Queen stared bitterly at the display of color being shot into the sky, symbolizing once again that good would always triumph over evil. Cruella squeezed the stuffed dog on her shoulder, cooing and baby-talking to it about how this just wouldn't do, no it wouldn't. The Evil Queen pulled her cape up over her head and let it fall, making a villain's grand exit into Maleficent's former living room, the others following suit.

She took a seat on the table next to the refrigerator, the table where she sat before she had been preparing her daughter to go off to Auradon Prep, where she along with the other children were _supposed_ to steal the Fairy Godmother's wand, but look how well _that_ turned out. She clenched her fists at the thought of their plans going awry, not to mention that their children had become the very thing that they despised: _good_.

The whistling of the fireworks pierced her ears, causing her to flinch. She growled under her breath as the sounds of festivities seemed to mock her. "Someone better close that goddamned door, right now!", the Evil Queen growled, making Cruella jump back and stroke her stuffed dog.

"Oh come now, Queen. Why so tense?", Jafar cooed mischievously, making his way over to the balcony doors so he could close them. The Evil Queen turned to Jafar, gripping the chair to keep from going over to him strangling him, as it would result in more stretching of her hands, and she couldn't have wrinkles, now could she?

"This may not have occurred to you, but we now have _no_ way to get revenge on our enemies, good and evil aren't bending to our will, our powers are _still_ no more, and we still have _no_ way off of this blasted piece of dirt, so _excuse_ me if I seem a bit displeased", the Evil Queen seethed, relaxing in her seat, checking her forehead for worry lines.

"Now, who said that there was no way off of the island?", Jafar spoke in his former velvet tones, his face contorting into a secretive lopsided grin. The Evil Queen knew that look all too well.

"Jafar?", she inquired tentatively. "What have you done?".

Jafar exhaled and took a seat across from her, his fingertips rhythmically tapping together in a sinister manner. "I haven't been entirely honest with you, Grimhilde", he admitted, his grin growing. The Evil Queen raised her eyebrow inquisitively, curious as to what the former vizier could've done.

"Do tell then", inquired the Evil Queen, annoyed that Jafar was being secretive, not that she was surprised. Jafar rose from his seat and began to walk to the other side of the room, his arms folded behind his back.

"Tell me Grimhilde, what do you know about the Eclipse?" Jafar questioned the Evil Queen. Her head cocked to one side in confusion. Jafar dismissed it instantly, knowing that the Evil Queen wouldn't've known anything about the Eclipse because that was the one thing that Jafar would never reveal to anyone.

"In due time, Grimhilde", Jafar shrugged nonchalantly before taking his leave. He walked home to his shop and closed the door behind him, resulting in a slight 'ding' from the bell on top of it. The old stairs creaked as Jafar made his way up to the attic, the place where he had once kept that little brat, Amara. She'd be 16 years old now, and the power inside of her would've definitely grown since then.

Jafar hurried to the far right corner of the room, bending down to the floor. "Now where is it? I could've sworn I put it right here", he muttered, feeling the floorboards. He patted them down, looking for the right one. Could he have misplaced it over the years, or had that sneaky Amara stolen it as well?

After five minutes, Jafar finally felt the loose floorboard, to which he laughed triumphantly. He removed it from the rest of its nailed companions and reached into the empty space. Jafar's hand soon felt cool metal, to which he promptly wrapped his fingers around an object and pulled it out.

The black and gold ornate jar that he now held in his hand would help ensure that his plan would go off without a hitch. The Eclipse was nearly a year away, but it was no matter to Jafar. The secret to being a master villain is patience. In order for perfectly executed plans to be carried out, one must have patience. The Eclipse would soon be upon them, and when that day came, Jafar's destiny would be fulfilled.

* * *

It had been three months since Ben's coronation. The forecast called for rain, which was weird because it _never_ rained, not in Auradon at least. The sky was cloudy and the afternoon was cool and crisp. The forest floor was damp and slightly muddy, so it ended up sticking a bit to the soles of Mal and Evie's shoes as they took the shortcut through the woods back to Auradon Prep. Mal wore her usual combat boots, so it wouldn't really matter whether or not they got dirty. They had just finished doing homework for Mystical Nature 101. Mal's book bag was starting to take its toll on her shoulders, they'd been walking for so long.

"Uugh", Evie pouted, "I picked the _wrong_ day to wear pumps". Classic Evie.

"You pick _every_ day to wear pumps, E", Mal teased, resulting in an eye roll from Evie. It was true; Evie chose to wear pumps _every_ day, much to the dismay of her athletic teachers.

"It's not like I can help it. Pumps go with everything", Evie shot back.

"Hey, I just hope we get back before the Spell Thief strikes again", Mal stated raising her hands and feigning surrender. Mal sighed with exhaustion. It wasn't a thief per se, but the students at Auradon didn't really know what to call them, given that they hadn't stolen anything yet. It all started about two weeks ago.

The first week, Fairy Godmother had come into her office one day to find all of her old spell books disheveled and out of place. The second week, the same thing happened in the Auradon Prep Library. Someone had caught the thief sneaking in, and before the authorities could be called, the thief was gone.

That was where the person got their reputation, because they were only looking for spell books. So far, they hadn't stolen anything yet, and everyone assumed that it was because they'd almost gotten caught that one time, but it seemed to Mal like they hadn't found what they were looking for, not yet at least.

"I know, right?", Evie agreed. "What do you think it is that they're after, M?"

"I'm not sure, E. Maybe they're trying to take over the world or some spiel like that. It's what every ambitious young villain wants, right?", Mal mused. She put her hand to her plum book bag, making sure that everything was there. Along with her school books, her mother's spell book resided. Mal never went anywhere without it. Not that she'd use it of course, but if it were to fall into the wrong hands, or if she had gotten herself into a sticky situation, she'd have a way to defend herself.

"Well, we have to get back soon. We have that double date with Ben and Doug tonight, and I have to pick out our outfits", Evie declared, getting into the mindset of a beauty guru as she always did.

"E, we have like three hours to get ready", Mal added, sighing dreamily and color coming to her pale cheeks. No matter how many dates that they went on, Mal would always get butterflies in her stomach and her heart would always warm at the thought of Ben. She fingered the gold beast ring on her left hand, the ring that Ben had given to her at his coronation. The only time that she took it off was to shower.

"Wait, what? _Only_ three hours? We've got to hurry then", Evie insisted, tugging Mal's arm along the path rather forcedly. Mal grinned and exhaled at her friend's antics. Her beauty methods may take long, but they did their job. Evie's hand wrapped around Mal's forearm, tugging her forward. That was when Mal heard a twig breaking behind her. Mal turned around and searched for the source of the sound. When she heard nothing, she assumed that it was a squirrel and turned back down the path she was going.

When she heard the noise again, Mal turned once more. "Mal we _have_ to go like _right_ now. We won't be ready in time", Evie said quickly.

Mal turned her head back. She looked cautiously all around her. She heard the faint sound of tiptoes and now she couldn't shake the feeling that they were being followed. A few minutes later, she heard a cut-off scream from behind her and a crunching noise. Mal's body quickly darted around, and Evie was nowhere to be found. "Evie?", Mal called out.

"Evie?!", she called out once more, her voice raising in pitch and volume. Mal searched frantically, her body darting around to see where her friend had gone. The crunching sound made Mal worried. "Evie!", Mal called out once more, and that was the precise moment when her world went dark.

* * *

 _Ninety-seven, ninety eight, ninety-nine, one-hundred._ Amara stood up and shook her arms to relax them from the push-ups that she had just done. She found that staying in shape helped her to evade the authorities more effectively. She stretched her wiry frame as she prepared for the day ahead of her, but today wouldn't consist of stealing things for survival. That was her daily routine most of the time. Work out, run through the woods, steal, come back. She never took more than she needed.

Six years, that's how long she had been at this. Six years of ducking the system, harnessing the powers given to her, and hiding in the shadows like a vermin. Six years of living alone, surviving alone, independent on outside factors, only worrying about herself. Six years of living in an old abandoned warehouse with nothing but dust bunnies for company. One would think that she'd be selfish as all hell, right? Not even close. She knew that soon, everything would soon come to pass.

Amara now sat on her bed, a 'defective' mattress that she had snagged from the Reject Room of the Princess and Pea Mattress Co., the company responsible for Auradon's uber-comfortable goose-down beds. ' _Seriously?',_ she thought when she laid on it for the first time. _'There is nothing wrong with this mattress'._ It almost made her angry that they would take something even as simple as a mattress for granted, but she reigned herself in. The outside world didn't know what it was like for people like her, and she couldn't control that.

She stared at the unconscious forms of Evie and Mal. She knew exactly who they both were; it wasn't like she lived under a rock. She knew who they were from her visions. Ever since she was little, she'd seen images of villains' children coming to live in Auradon because of a proclamation that the Prince had made. Sure enough, they turned out to be true, and just as she foresaw, the children turned their back on their evil heritage. Maybe there was hope for the future after all, and if there were, she'd probably see it.

Amara knew that it probably wasn't the wisest decision to bring them here, but she wasn't about to just leave them for dead in the woods for nature to just chew them up and spit them out. Again, she wasn't as selfish as you'd think. To be honest, the whole decision to bring them to her hiding place was all a result of pure impulse.

The plan was originally to go to Auradon Prep and search their room for the spell book, but when she was on her way to do that, she caught sight of the girls and she was on foot. They had to have been at least 50 feet in front of her, but she couldn't just stand there. She had to hide. Before she had the chance to climb up into one of the trees, she stepped on a twig. It broke, and Amara's first instinct was to hide.

She hid behind the tree and stayed still as a statue. When Amara heard footsteps, she relaxed and she went to climb the tree to get a better vantage point, when she stepped on another twig. She had to bite down on her lip to keep herself from cursing. The fact that Evie had to tell Mal to hurry proved to Amara that she had in fact turned back. Amara would've waited until they left completely, if not for the hypnotic presence that Amara sensed.

The presence called to her like a siren's song, drawing her to its location, which happened to be Mal's book bag. Amara figured that it _had_ to be Maleficent's spell book, and she was right. She made the snap decision to steal it right then and there. Before she even thought about what she was going to do, she snuck up behind Evie and pinched the nerve right at the base of her neck, instantly rendering her unconscious. She did the same with Mal, and then realized her mistake. Amara cursed herself while she carried their petite forms the whole way back to the old abandoned warehouse that she currently called home. That was all four days ago.

Amara stared at them as they lay on the floor of the place that served as her bedroom, which used to be an office. It smelled of mold and its dingy gray walls were wrought with decay, but Amara was used to it. The girls lay unconscious on the floor and thanks to the sleeping spell that she put on them, plus the nerve pinch, they wouldn't be waking up anytime soon.

The sleep would only last for another day or two at most. It wasn't like she'd go all Maleficent on them. She kept staring at the girls, trying to figure out how to get them back before anyone started freaking out about it, although she figured that that ship had sailed when the two-day mark was reached. People would be looking for them no doubt, and if Amara didn't fix that soon, she'd be in very deep trouble.

She got up from her bed and sat down crisscross applesauce directly in front of their sleeping bodies. An assortment of books surrounded Mal and Evie. That was basically what Amara's room was, one big assortment of various books depicting various subjects and stories. Every book in her room served her _some_ purpose. Books allowed her to homeschool herself, to teach her about math and science and history and anything that fell into that category. She had always been a fast learner.

Books taught her how to fix and repurpose things, like she did with her cellphone, an IPhone 5S that some spoiled Auradon rich kid had thrown out. Fine by her. Using a technology textbook that she had acquired in her earlier years, she was able to fix the phone and hack into it to make do a bunch of cool other stuff, mainly to download songs for free. Amara's head bobbed to 'I'm So Sick' by Flyleaf.

Music could always help her head stay clear, no matter what mood she was in, no matter what genre the song was. She also used her phone to stay in the loop of the outside world. Like it was said, she didn't live under a rock. The various books in her room had taught her many things, and hopefully the books that she was currently looking for would provide her with answers.

Her gaze traveled down to the book that lay in front of her, stagnant in its place. It was the very book that belonged to the greatest villain of all time, the spell book of Maleficent. She snagged it out of Mal's book bag before taking off with the girls. Amara could feel the magic radiating from it, and expected it to strike at any moment like a cobra lying in wait. She tentatively reached out her hand and slid her fingers under the worn leather book, bringing it up to eye level so she could examine it.

She had skimmed through the pages a million times already and she still found nothing. Nothing as to what Jafar was planning, and no connections whatsoever. All she could ever remember from her time in the junk shop was the former vizier himself jabbering on about the Eclipse, whatever the hell _that_ was. She figured it obviously had something to do with what he was planning, and she silently cursed herself for not paying more attention. At the time she had been more concerned with getting off of the Isle.

Her visions were no help either. There would always be huge time gaps for when they would come. She started getting them again about a month ago, and she kept seeing books, three books to be exact. Maleficent's was one of them. Now she had to find the other two, a fat load of good they would do her if she couldn't figure out what she was supposed to do with them.

She heaved a frustrated sigh as she pulled the earphones out and pulled on her hood and her face cloth, getting into what she called her 'ninja gear', her all black clothes that she had snagged from the local clothing stores. She could still hear the shop owners' shouts as she made her numerous getaways. "Get back here you street rat!", they yelled. Amara always shrugged it off. She knew that she couldn't resent them for doing that; she _was_ a thief after all. It was all she knew, hiding and stealing, hiding and stealing. It was how she got her food also. She had to eat to live and she had to steal to eat. It wasn't like she was fond of it, but she didn't know any other way. And it wasn't like she was complaining. After all, compared to the Isle of the Lost, the way she was living now was a step up from when she was on the Isle.

Now she was fighting to protect all those that called her such names, because she knew in her heart that it was the right thing to do. She didn't know how she was going to do it on her own, but she was going to try. She was the only one that could, after all. It would've been selfish of her to involve anyone, it would only risk their lives. When Amara was done getting ready, she tucked Maleficent's spell book into one of her hidey-holes and slung the two girls over her shoulders as if they were rag dolls. They might as well have been, given how light they were and how strong Amara was. She hurried down the stairs to the ground floor of the warehouse and ran out the back way, straight into the woods.

She jogged into the endless expanse of pine and oak trees, trying to find a good place to lay them down where someone would surely find them. She tried to be as quite as she could with two girls on her shoulders, breaking the occasional twig in her jog. It seemed forever ago when Amara had entered the forest. She was getting so winded that she had to take five-minute breaks to set the girls down and catch her breath. She allowed herself no more after break number five.

After what seemed like hours, Amara _finally_ found a spot that she was satisfied with and gently deposited the girls there. She bent down in between them to catch her breath. By then, she was really tired. Even carrying people _that_ light for a long period of time took its toll on a person. Once she caught her breath, she stood up and stretched her arms.

She was interrupted by the sounds of breaking twigs and crunching of the ground. She immediately darted to a nearby oak tree and nimbly climbed her way up to the very top, the green foliage providing much better coverage than on the Isle of the Lost. The sounds of breaking twigs and ground crunching were getting closer, and becoming more frequent. Then there was a new sound. It was the sound that stuck out to Amara the most. It was the sound of desperate shouts that screamed Mal's name.

The voice that called for Mal was so ridden with fear and anxiety, and Amara sunk her head in shame. All of a sudden, she felt guilty, beyond guilty. Someone was looking for Mal, for Evie too. Someone was missing them. The girls had been gone for four days, and she was the one responsible for it. Amara could feel the pain in the voice that called Mal's name. She was the one that kidnapped them, all because of one impulsive decision, and now she was paying the price with guilt.

Then she did what she always did when confronted with these kinds of feelings. She shrugged them off and told herself that she did what she had to do. Normally the feelings would go away, but this time, they lingered, gnawing at her and eating away at her. She immediately dismissed them again, shaking her head and catching sight of the girls being carried away.

She didn't know how many were in the group that had come looking for them. She counted three boys, one with a handsome face and golden-brown hair parted to one side. The next boy was short and kind of cute in a nerdy sort of way, his glasses seemingly magnifying his look of concern for the blue-haired beauty in his arms. The last boy was the smallest of the three, his dark roots in sharp contrast to the rest of his white hair. He looked like he ate even less than Amara, and that was saying something. Since the power inside her sustained her for the most part, she didn't really need to eat or drink much.

She waited in her tree until the boys were no more than specks on the horizon. She was getting ready to lower herself, when a fourth boy came into view. Amara clutched the tree to keep herself from falling over, her legs also tightening their grip with the effort. She craned her neck to get a better view of the fourth boy.

He was wearing a sleeveless leather shirt, which was equal parts brown and yellow and also showed off his defined arm muscles, his jeans jet black. His skin matched her caramel tone, and his long hair matched the color of his rich, dark eyes. Amara cocked her head in confusion, the strangest sense of déjà vu taking hold of her. The boy seemed to be looking around for something, periodically walking around and turning 360 degrees.

Amara held her breath should it divulge her location. She stayed perfectly still in her place, squeezing the tree as if her life depended on it. The boy walked a little father out, and finally she could get a better look at him. The boy's head briefly faced her direction before looking around again. It was long enough for Amara to realize where she had seen this boy before. She tried to lean in closer to confirm her recognition, trying to get a closer look at the boy. "Jay?", she whispered. It was then that she realized her mistake.

The whole thing happened in about ten seconds. The next thing she knew, she lost her grip on the branch and fell from atop her high place. She only had time to gasp before she was falling. She wasn't sure why she closed her eyes on the way down, but all she knew was that she was falling, and then the next thing she knew, she abruptly stopped falling and felt things wrapping around her.

The things wrapping around her felt sinewy and smooth all at once. They stayed perfectly still once they were satisfied with their grip. It took her a few seconds to realize that they were arms, arms that were still tightening around her. Amara's eyes finally opened, and only for a pair of gorgeous dark eyes to be staring right back at her. So what did she do? She shoved the boy away, agily rolling on the ground and slowly rising up.

And so history had repeated itself. All that was left to do now was to wait for the young snake to make his next move.


	3. Lost and Found

**Chapter 2**

 _Jay ran as fast as he could through the woods, the blackened, thorny trees arching down as if they wished to trap him. The leaves crunched under his feet as he ran through the woods to_ her. _He had been making this trip every day for the past three weeks since she had asked him to help her get off of the Isle. He had been getting the girl what she'd asked for. Food, black clothes of all sizes, basic supplies for the typical runaway._

 _To be honest, Jay looked forward to these visits more than anything. Something about going against everything that his evil peers taught him gave him a certain thrill. Plus, he viewed it as an excuse to see her. He didn't know why, but ever since he met her, once he got over the initial annoyance and shock of meeting the girl, he'd feel a certain spark every time he was near her, and he didn't even know her name._

 _Every time he had asked, she would respond with: "It's best you don't know". A look of distant sadness would accompany the response, and Jay couldn't help but feel bad for her. His father would kill him if he ever knew that Jay had felt sympathy for someone, for actually_ caring _about someone other than himself. Jay wasn't concerned about that though. He kept running as he clutched the newly stolen supplies to his chest. He wanted to be sure that every bit of it was there for her._

* * *

"Mal!, Evie!", Jay, Carlos, Doug and Ben simultaneously called out as they searched the woods behind the tourney field for the missing girls. Four days they've been at this, four of the longest days of their lives, Ben in particular. The sky over head was grey with stratus clouds. The air smelled of pine and rain, which was understandable. It had rained last night so the ground was very muddy, sticking to all of their shoes in moist brown clumps. Ben felt sick to his stomach, searching for plum-colored hair in the distance.

The girls couldn't have gone that far, then again who knew? No one had seen them in four days, and this was the fourth time in as many days that the boys had gone searching for them. When Mal and Evie didn't show for the double date, the boys knew that something was definitely wrong. Evie would _never_ miss a chance to perform a makeover on someone other than herself.

So they checked the obvious places on the first day. The trail into the forest, the Enchanted Lake, the Bridge, and all the areas surrounding those places, but there was no such luck. The second day, Ben met with Fairy Godmother. She had performed a locater spell, but that failed too, and Fairy Godmother figured that something must've been blocking the magic somehow. _That_ was when Ben started to get worried.

The third day, a search party had been organized and they had covered a good chunk of the forest, but the girls weren't found. Today, the same thing was happening with the remaining part of the woods. The members of the search party (and there was an abundance of volunteers), had been split up into groups, each one covering a part of the forest. Ben, Jay, Carlos, and Doug were obviously in a group together. The only difference now was that _Jay_ of all people was one of the level-headed people of the group. _Had the world gone mad?_

"Mal!", Ben called out once more. He inhaled a shaky breath. To say that Ben was worried would've been a gross understatement, the most that anyone could've made in that moment. Mal wouldn't just ditch him like that, would she? No, of course not. This was Mal he was talking about, _his_ Mal.

Ben ran his hands through his hair, fear settling itself into his heart. What if something bad had happened to Mal? What if she was in trouble? And it would've been his fault because he wasn't there to protect her. A hand on his shoulder snapped Ben out of his thoughts. He turned back to find that it was Jay, a look of concern in his dark eyes that Ben assumed matched the one that he wore. "It's gonna be fine, dude. We're gonna find them. Besides, Mal is one tough cookie, you know that. She can take care of herself", Jay stated in his usual carefree tone.

Normally, that would've relaxed Ben, but not today, not when Mal was missing. Ben's head swiveled back to its normal facing and he stared ahead into the vast expanse of forest, thoughts being born out of fear for Mal. What if she had been kidnapped? A tiny seed of fury had been planted into Ben at the mere thought of it. If the kidnapper had hurt Mal in any way, if Mal had even the tiniest scratch on her, let's just say that they'd soon get _very_ well acquainted with his inner beast. Ben shook the fury out of his head, as it would distract him from the task at hand.

The boys had been searching for hours, their feet beginning to ache from walking for so long and their throats becoming scratchy from shouting for the girls. Ben's mind became clouded during those hours, running through less-than-pleasant scenarios of things that could've happened to Mal, all except dying. Ben refused to accept that Mal could be dead. It had only been four days. There was no way that could've happened. Right? Ben really hoped that he was right.

The sound of Carlos's voice was what finally jolted Ben out of his eternally unpleasant thoughts, something that he was grateful for beyond belief. "Guys, get over here! I found something!", Carlos shouted. Along with Jay, Ben had jogged over to the small teen and Doug. _'Finally',_ Ben thought. The two boys were standing over plum and royal blue book bags and Carlos was holding a small object in the palm of his hand. The object had a certain glint to it. When Ben jogged closer to the object, it took the form of something he was very familiar with.

Ben's heart rate increased as he practically snatched the Beast ring out of Carlos's hand and brought it to his eyes. Ben tried to calm down as he clenched the ring. He shouldn't be getting this worked up, right? But what if something had happened? What if Mal was hurt? She'd _never_ go anywhere without this ring. She was always wearing it. Something _definitely_ happened to her. At this point, Ben was clutching the ring so tight that it was bound to be making indentations in his palm. The more anxious he got, the tighter the ring was clenched.

Anyone could've tried to calm Ben down in that moment, but none of them dared. Was Ben worried? Absolutely. Did Ben want to find Mal (and Evie too)? Of course he did. Was he overreacting? Maybe a little, but Ben was the son of the Beast, and unfortunately overreacting ran in his family. Although had his been his parents in this situation, all the anxiety and worry that Ben was feeling after four days of Mal's disappearance would've been happening with the Beast the moment that he realized Belle was missing, so Ben had to give himself a little bit of credit at least.

His breathing grew in pace and volume. His eyes started to dart around frantically and askew, going from one point to the next like a hummingbird. He made the snap decision to just run straight forward, tuning out the calls of his friends and just running with reckless abandon. "Mal!", he shouted. "Mal!". He looked around frantically as he ran, searching for her. Where was she? He ran until everything started to burn.

Ben had to stop running to catch his breath. His chest heaved up and down in an attempt to deliver oxygen to his fiery lungs. The scalding in his limbs began to subside as the rest of his group caught up to him. The boys all leaned on the trees for support, feeling light-headed from sprinting after their worry-stricken friend. "Dude, I think that's the fastest you've ever run", Carlos uttered breathlessly. He stood there catching his breath and his eyes traveled to Ben. Jay had just now caught up to the group and was breathing heavily to catch his breath.

Carlos understood Ben's worry, he and Jay felt the same. Well maybe not _exactly_ the same, but still they worried. The thing was, Carlos and Jay weren't used to ever feeling worried. Maybe they did for themselves, but not for others. On the Isle, they could never show if they were ever feeling scared or sad or anything that fell into those categories because it would've been taken as weakness.

Right now, they were terrified for Mal and Evie, but their habitual tendencies got in the way of showing how truly frightened they were. _They_ were the ones that had to keep a calm and level head for the group. _They_ were the ones that had to put on the brave face even though their chests were tightened with worry. Some of it subsided with Carlos as he saw Ben's anxious expression. In that moment, Carlos realized how much Ben cared for Mal and was grateful for it, because it meant that she would be taken care of.

Carlos caught sight of a lavender-colored sweater vest and turquoise cotton plaid undershirt, accompanied by a pair of glasses. Doug supported himself on the tree nest to him and bent down, wheezing in an attempt to cure his lack of breath. "Where could they be?", Doug asked breathlessly. Carlos was just about to answer him, but something in the distance caught his eye. They were specks of bold color that stood out to the rest of the endless expanse of green. Carlos walked towards the specks and as he did, they grew bigger. As they grew bigger, Carlos could see what colors they were, plum and navy. Carlos's heartbeat began to increase as he got even closer to the specks, which started to increase in size and take shape. "Guys! Guys! Over here!", Carlos shouted.

Ben jogged to where Carlos was and followed the small teen's gaze, eventually falling on the plum and navy specks in the distance. The boys jogged closer to the specks just to be sure it was them. Sure enough, the specks were attached to bodies, bodies that belonged to none other than Mal and Evie. Ben immediately sprinted to Mal's side, gently scooping her in his arms and carrying her petite form bridal-style. Ben cradled Mal tightly as he carried her out of the forest. At that moment, nothing else mattered to Ben other than making sure Mal was alive and well, but most of all, safe. "You're gonna be okay Mal", he croaked out, holding back tears. "You're gonna be okay. I got you Mal. I got you".

* * *

Something about the whole situation didn't sit right with Jay, and if he'd learned anything in his life, it was to trust his instincts. He had stayed behind and watched as Ben, Doug and Carlos carried the girls away. No doubt they'd be going to the school infirmary. Jay wasn't sure how long they'd been asleep, but he assumed they'd have one hell of a migraine when they woke up.

Jay stood under the oak tree, a familiar sense of emptiness creeping up inside him. The last time that Jay remembered going into the woods was six years ago. Now he never set foot in woods of any kind, fear that there were oak trees in them. Not that he was particularly afraid of oak trees, but those kinds of trees made him think of _her_. This sort of thing seemed right up her alley. Maybe the reason that he'd stayed behind was that he was hoping that she'd be nearby, he didn't know.

Jay immediately shook the thoughts out of his mind and started to head back to the school. It was clear that he wouldn't be seeing her again, no matter what she had told him back on the Isle, no matter if she told him that she hoped they'd cross paths one day. He guessed that he was hoping that that day was today. He was jolted out of his thoughts when the sounds came out of nowhere all at once. That was the precise moment when Jay heard a whooshing sound. That was when he heard a gasp. That was when he saw a mass of black falling from the tree that he was under.

The next thing he knew, he was cradling someone. It took him a few seconds to register what just happened. He and the person locked eyes, and for Hades-knows-how-long, they stayed like that. Obviously not very long because soon after, the person shoved him away, agily rolling on the ground and slowly rising up off the ground. His déjà vu had now struck with a vengeance. He'd recognize those eyes anywhere, alert and watching his every move.

Then she broke off in a run. On instinct, Jay followed her. His legs moved back and forth as fast as a jungle cat, but even then it was tough to keep up with her. He had almost forgotten how fast she was. His legs burned with the effort as he struggled to catch up with her. Jay had gained some headway when she had tripped on a tree root, but when she got back up again she shot back onto her route like a bullet, shooting out of sight, out of mind.

Jay was a very persistent boy. When he wanted something, he took it. What he wanted right now was to get to her, to find her. From the moment that he met her, he knew that she was hiding something, and for the longest time, he wanted to know what that something was. Being the persistent boy he was, he would find out, and it was only a matter of time.

* * *

Amara ran like hell before Jay even had a chance to ask what in Hades was going on. Unfortunately for her, that didn't stop him from chasing her. She was almost tempted to stay behind and catch up with him, but that would've entailed him trying to convince her to stay, at least she was pretty sure that was what would've happened. She knew better than anyone that that couldn't happen. She couldn't become a part of that world, because she would never belong in it. There was no sense in trying to make it work, no point in denying it. Her destiny was hers alone, and asking for help would've meant risking lives. To involve anyone else, she might as well have been signing their death warrant.

As she ran, _none_ of this was going through her mind. A more accurate portrayal would've been: _I have to get away, I have to lose him. I have to hide. Faster Amara!_ She raced ahead, looking for potential hiding places that would throw him off the scent. She looked up to the trees, could she hide there? No, she had already fallen from a tree once, Jay would be expecting that. She'd have to hide on the ground. The twigs snapped and the leaves crunched under her feet as she ran, the same sounds being heard not too far behind her.

She had to think fast. She was still running as something came into view, her lungs burning with the effort she was exerting. As she got closer as said thing started to take shape and increase in size. As she got closer, the thing separated off into multiple things, all the same shade of stone grey. Soon it became a floor of grey, little green patches of grass and weeds sprouting up between the cracks.

When Amara came right to the place, she stopped, taking in the sight of it all. By the looks of it, she was standing right in the middle of old ruins of an old castle. All around the place, stone columns jutted up out of the ground, and not one of them was the same height as the other. To her right, there was an array of stone archways, tarnished and crumbled with age like the columns that surrounded it, with stairways and rooms that were missing walls, all crumbled. In the middle stood a large stone fountain the looked like it came from England back in the 1700's. It was covered with various lichens and moss. She figured she must've been on the veranda, the rest of the ancient, deteriorating castle having yet to be explored. Amara tried to imagine how it must've looked in its hay-day.

The sounds of distant twigs snapping and leaf-crunching instantly jolted her out of her thoughts and brought her back to reality, and then she remembered that she had to hide. Her eyes scanned all the potential areas that might've been suitable. Behind the columns? No, Jay would look there, and while the fountain was fairly large, it wouldn't be sufficient enough for her to hide behind. Jay was practically on her tail and she wasn't really seeing any other options. Well, there was _one_ option, but it wasn't something that she liked to use necessarily, not unless there wasn't any other option, and right now it looked like there wasn't. She contemplated using her magic.

She heaved a sigh and resigned herself to the truth that magic _was_ in fact the only option at this point. The way that her powers worked was that anything she thought of and had a clear image of what she wanted to happen, _would_ happen, but she didn't like to use it a lot. She preferred to be resourceful because she knew that if she relied on magic too much, she'd become careless. If only she could afford that.

It would only be a matter of time before Jay found her, so she had to act quickly. She closed her eyes as a familiar churning sensation took place in her gut as she was enacting the incantation. She opened her eyes to find that her forearm had already seemingly materialized into thin air. That's how it ought to have been with invisibility spells, and since she didn't have enough time to make a complete one, she had to stay perfectly and completely still or else the spell would dissolve. It took another ten seconds for her to disappear completely, and not another ten seconds after, Jay had finally arrived.

Jay was panting heavily, his chest heaving up and down and his head lazily swiveling around. Unlike the rest of him, his dark eyes were alert, searching for something. He started to walk towards the middle of the ruins, his feet crossing themselves and his body swiveling around, getting a full view of the place to try and spot where Amara was hiding. It wasn't like he would find it ever, but Amara held her breath all the same.

"I know you're here. I know it's you", he called out finally, tearing the veil of silence that shrouded Amara. Wow. Had his voice gotten lower, and why did a warm, tingly feeling in the pit of her stomach follow soon after? She didn't know. She couldn't place the expression on Jay's face. To her it looked determination with a mix of something else. Was that sadness? She didn't know, but she stubbornly refused to move no matter how curious she was. No matter how much she wanted to go and talk to him, she couldn't. He would only try to convince her to come into the outside world, to convince her that she needed help.

"Listen, I don't know where you've been or what you've been doing, but I know that you're still hiding and that you still haven't done what you need to do, what ever the hell that may be". He paused and bit his lower lip, then took a deep breath in and continued.

"You know me. You know I'm not gonna give up looking for you", He paused again. "Meet me here tomorrow night. If you want me to stop looking for you before I've even started, then give me a good reason. Don't be late", he affirmed. He lingered a bit before he ran off into the vast expanse of forest. By that point, Amara was visible again. All she could do was stand there, dumbfounded and wondering what the hell she was supposed to do next. On her way home, she thought and thought about what Jay had said, and she couldn't shake the feeling that maybe, just maybe, she should hear what he had to say. Then maybe she could convince him to stay away.

Although, knowing Jay, that was a very unlikely possibility.


	4. Safe and Sound

**Chapter 3**

" _What do you mean we can't go to her?", Jasmine shouted at Genie, her voice raising in volume and pitch, her tone tight with denial._

" _I'm sorry. It's been decreed by Beast. Both sides of this operation are sealed off. There's nothing I can do", Genie answered apologetically. Jasmine's eyes welled up with fresh tears, and Genie understood. The little tyke was his godchild after all.. He wanted nothing more than to save her from the evil clutches of the Isle, but he couldn't._

 _Genie didn't understand why_ both _sides had to be sealed off. The villains were all under a barrier that kept them on the Isle, right? It had worked for the last four years, and then all of a sudden, King Beast declares that the Kingdom of Auradon should be protected by a barrier of its own. Along with that, the barrier around the Isle had been reinforced. Auradon's barrier had been put up a few days after the little tyke had been taken by Jafar._

 _That was when Genie put two and two._ Jafar _. Of course. It was Jafar. They wanted to be safe from Jafar, that bastard. Allah knows what the man had cooking up in that twisted, clever brain of his. Who knows what could've happened to little Amara?_

 _Genie was jolted out of his realization by the sound of a massive door being opened. He turned toward it and in came Aladdin. He looked at his wife and then Genie expectantly. "Well? Anything?". His eyes are so hopeful, it breaks Genie's heart in two to tell his best buddy Al that he may never get to meet his daughter. With a head shake, Genie confirmed that there was nothing that could be done. Sure, he was a freed all-powerful genie, but even_ he _couldn't break through the barrier that surrounded Auradon. They could not look for their daughter. She was all but lost to Auradon._

 _Since then, the Royal Family of Agrabah had grieved. All of Aziz's birthdays were bittersweet events. Not a day had gone by that they hadn't thought about Amara, where she was, if she was safe, if she was even alive. For the next 16 years, they carried on, going through the motions._

 _It wasn't until King Benjamin's first proclamation that Auradon's barrier had finally been lifted._

* * *

Jay ran out of the old ruins that used to be Castle Blackborough. No one had lived there since the Dark Ages it seemed. No knew where the ancient castle had come from or why it was built. It was simply a constant amidst a world of ever-changing turmoil, much like the turmoil going on in Jay's mind at the moment.

He couldn't believe that he had just said that. Could he have sounded _any_ ruder? Wait, why was he even worrying about this? What was he thinking? He _wasn't_ thinking, that's what happened. Who could've known whether or not it was her? Who's to say it even was? And even then, if it was her, would she come to meet him? Would she choose to stay hidden? His chest grew tight at the thought for reasons beyond him.

Now came the more pressing matters. What was he going to tell Ben once he got back? That the he had possibly found the Spell Thief, that she was his greatest secret? Well, not _her_ per se _,_ but what he had done for her, his attachment to her. What was Ben going to do once he found out that Jay knew his girlfriend's kidnapper? He'd demand to know where the person was so that he could lock her up or worse, have her drawn and quartered. Such a practice was retired centuries ago, but who knew? Maybe Ben would decide to break out the old horse and binds and lay her out on the square, have her limbs yanked out of their sockets and preach barbarianism for all Jay knew, though he doubted that Ben would actually do that.

' _Calm down man. You're overthinking this. If she doesn't come tomorrow night then that's it. If she does then you two will have an interesting conversation. Simple as that",_ he thought. He tried to convince himself of that, but he only succeeded in the field of becoming more anxious. He shook the thoughts out of his mind and ran on his way. He didn't want to be in the forest any more than he had to be, he would only worry about _her_ even more, and worry wasn't an emotion that he was very familiar with.

* * *

Darkness. That was all that Mal saw. She didn't know where she was. Limbo, maybe? She didn't know what else could've fit the description of a dark plane of endless nothingness. For the life of her, she couldn't seem to remember how she got there, and she didn't know how long she had been there. Time was always extremely distorted in places like this. At first, she was afraid. Not of the darkness itself, but because of the way it made her feel, because she was alone, because her friends were nowhere to be found, because Ben was nowhere to be found. When she tried to call out for her friends, she found that her voice had left her. No matter how much strain that she had put her vocal chords through, no sound came out.

She was used to the darkness by now. The only thing that was bothering her was that it was so quiet. Not that she could do anything about it, but it still bothered her. She floated aimlessly in her plane of nothingness. She had lost hope of escaping the darkness a while ago and accepted this lonely fate of hers. Often she would hear Ben's voice. He sounded frantic, he sounded worried. She only wished that she was there to comfort him.

At one point in her endless darkness, she thought she may have been hallucinating, but then who knew? This whole plan of nothingness may have been a hallucination itself, a figment of her imagination, she didn't know. This particular hallucination took the form of a small speck of pale gold light in sharp contrast against the darkness. Mal's head cocked to one side in confusion. She would've acknowledged the movement had she not been so captivated by the light.

She almost didn't notice that she was slowly gravitating towards the light, which grew in size as the distance closed between it and Mal. It got to the point where it was just so _big_ and it was so _bright._ The light enveloped her, surrounded her. Suddenly Mal didn't feel alone anymore.

* * *

Mal woke up gasping. Her chest heaved up and down multiple times, her body trying to get its bearings. It took Mal all of two seconds to realize where she was as her head swiveled around to see a sterile white room and herself in a just as sterile white bed, the Auradon Prep Infirmary. It took up a reasonably sized portion of the West Wing of the school. It consisted of 10 private rooms and its own little lobby with hospital beds lining one of its walls. It would often be full of tourney players with injuries that needed to be tended to. She had yet to see Jay end up in here.

To Mal's relief, she still had her clothes on and she smelled kind of earthy, which was weird. How did that happen? She clutched her head as a killer migraine seized her. It felt like someone was pricking a thousand tiny needles into her brain. "Uuggh, what _happened_?", she whispered to herself. She squinted at the sight of the fluorescent light above her and she imagined that this was what a hangover must've felt like. Thank her lucky stars she had never had a sip of any alcoholic beverage in her life. She looked all around the room and it took her another two seconds to realize that she was all alone. Where was everyone? Wait, why was she even in here?

She began to pace around the room, looking for _some_ form of communication, but there was nothing. There wasn't even a com button for nurses inside the wall, and then she remembered of course that there wouldn't be any such things in these rooms. When she first arrived here, Mal at least thought that _Auradon Prep_ of all places would have a mini-hospital for an infirmary, but she was surprised to find that it was perfectly normal. She tried to open the door at least ten times, most of them by magic and some of them by force, but the door wouldn't budge. She should've expected that magic wouldn't've worked anyhow because the doors were magic-proof. She concluded that either the door was broken or she was locked in. She was betting on the latter.

She had been sitting in her room for at least half an hour, and now she was getting restless. She walked up to the door to her room for the eleventh time and her hand paused over the polished brass knob, remembering that it wouldn't open. Suddenly, to Mal's great surprise, the knob turned on its own, and a tall woman with a thin frame came through and was carrying a clipboard. She dawned the white dress, white hat and sensible shoes of a nurse. Her brown hair was pulled back and tied into a frightfully uncomfortable looking bun. Her stormy grey eyes were hard set like stone, her stare of intimidating scrutiny making Mal as uncomfortable as the woman's bun. "Are you Mal?" the nurse asked.

"Yeah. What's it to you?", Mal answered rather snippily.

"I'm the one performing your examination, as per the king's orders" the nurse retorted coolly, not batting her eyes a single time. The king's orders? Of course. Ben must've had her door locked to keep her from wandering.

"When can I leave?", Mal snapped. She was getting more anxious by the minute. She wanted to know what the hell was going on.

"You can leave when I've examined you. We've been over that, now if you'll just sit down then we can get this over with" the nurse answered in that stone cold voice of hers. Mal plunked on the bed and the nurse took a seat next to her with one of those little lights that doctors used on their patients.

"Your friend Evie is all right if that's what you're wondering. Shouldn't be more than a few hours until she wakes up", said the nurse, her stone cold voice replaced by a smooth, soothing one. "You were both doing remarkably well under the circumstances", the nurse chatted, checking Mal's pupils.

"Wait hold up. What's going on? Why should I be wondering if Evie's alright? What circumstances?" asked Mal frantically.

"You-, you don't remember?", the nurse asked incredulously. Mal raised her eyebrows, beckoning the nurse to continue.

"Well, King Benjamin and your friends told us that they found you in the woods. By then you had been missing for four days. You may as well have been dead with the state that you were in. Faint as it was, you had a pulse. It was a miracle you weren't found by any wild animals", mused the nurse. Mal pondered her words for a few seconds. She and Evie had been found unconscious in the woods? What were they doing out there in the first place?

"Wait, _four_ days?", Mal asked incredulously. The nurse's head gave a slight nod. It took Mal a few seconds to process and collect her thoughts. She and Evie had been found in the woods after they had been missing for four days with not even the tiniest scratch on them, not even the tiniest speck of dust or dirt or twigs, leaves or anything like that. She found she was asking herself how that had happened for the umpteenth time. And Ben, oh God. Ben must've been going out of his mind with worry.

Another nurse ran into Mal's room and tugged on her nurse's arm. "Nurse Blakely, the blue-haired young lady has woken up. She's in the lobby and keeps asking for this one. Are you almost done?", said the nurse, pointing at Mal. "Just about. Tell her it'll be just another moment, Margaret", responded Nurse Blakely, waving her off. A heavy weight had been lifted from Mal's shoulders as soon as she knew that Evie was awake. Before she left, the nurse's eyes fell on Mal. "Shall I send for King Benjamin?", Margaret asked, looking at her and Nurse Blakely repeatedly.

"Umm actually I'd like to go to him. Do you know where he his?" Mal asked Margaret, but she had already left hastily.

"Thanks for nothing", Mal muttered under her breath. She turned back to Nurse Blakely. "You're free to go. Both of your friends are waiting for you in the lobby", said Nurse Blakely, as if Margaret hadn't just delivered her news. Mal darted out of her room as soon as she said that. The sound of her combat boots on the linoleum floor resonated throughout the sterile white hallway. It was a short walk to the lobby. The first thing she saw was a row of grey seats. Carlos and Evie were sitting in the middle. Evie's face was puffed up a bit and her eyes were red and brimming with unshed tears. Carlos sat next to her, periodically rubbing a soothing hand across her back. It was the sound of Mal's combat boots that made the two look up.

Evie shot up from her seat and closed the distance between herself and Mal. Her arms wrapped around Mal's neck tightly, and anyone that dare try to pry her away would have her heel end up where the sun don't shine. "Hey E", Mal whispered soothingly into her ear.

"Thank God you're okay", Evie said as she pulled back, her hands clamping Mal's shoulders. "When did you wake up?", Mal asked.

"About an hour ago. I feel like I've been waiting in here forever", Evie said.

"I know how you feel. I was sitting in here for, I don't know, three hours before Evie woke up. I'm just glad you two are okay", Carlos said, his eyes wrought with exhaustion and concern. Mal and Carlos shared a brief but meaningful embrace before pulling apart. "I'm glad you guys are here", Mal said at barely a whisper.

"Of course", Carlos said soothingly, his fingers running up and down Mal's arm, calming her. Mal looked around the infirmary. Something was missing. "Where's Jay?", Mal asked.

"Why don't you ask him?", a familiar voice responded. Jay stumbled into the room before regaining his balance, making his way over to his friends. Mal and Evie rushed over to him and nearly knocked him down with a bear hug. "Jay. Oh my God I have _never_ been so happy to see you in my life", Mal said breathlessly. "Same here", said Evie.

"Dude where have you been? I mean I know we traveled a bit off of the path but-", Carlos questioned Jay.

"You try finding your way through the Enchanted Forest _without_ one. Seriously, I got lost like three times trying to get out of there", Jay retorted defensively, which immediately gave off warning signs to Carlos. They hadn't gone _that_ far off of the path. Jay could've easily found his way back, so what could he have been up to? The look in Jay's eyes told Carlos that he was definitely hiding something, but Carlos didn't want to stir up anything that might upset the girls. They'd been through enough already. The girls pulled back and Jay saw Evie's face. "You alright E?", he asked, concern lining his tone. Evie wiped her face and sniffled, nodding 'yes'.

"Evie?", a new voice tentatively asked.

The group turned toward the voice to see a familiar combination of glasses and sweater vests. "Doug", Evie breathed in obvious relief, the staccato click of her heals being heard as she made her way over to him. The two wrapped their arms around each other. It was apparent that they weren't letting go anytime soon. Those two might as well have been a couple, for Pete's sake. Unfortunately, Doug was too shy to make the first move and make it official, but Evie pressed on, hoping that one day, Doug would finally grow some guts. Mal would've rolled her eyes if the sight of them together hadn't made her chest grow tighter, if it hadn't made her heart ache.

Ben. That was the first thing that popped into her head when she saw Doug and Evie together, _Ben_. Mal wanted nothing more than to be with him right now. She felt her eyes grow hot, blurring as unshed tears filled them. A warm hand on Mal's shoulder jolted her out of her thoughts. She turned and saw that the hand belonged to Jay. At first she was confused. Jay had never really been touchy-feely in his life, why start now?

"I think Ben's at the Enchanted Lake, if you wanted to go see him", Jay said softly, careful not to upset Mal in any form or fashion. Mal could feel her eyebrows raise in hope and surprise as she stared incredulously at Jay. "Are you _sure_?", she asked, afraid that it was too good to be true. Jay nodded yes, and it was that single action that filled Mal's heart to the brim with happiness, but it quickly turned into worry as she saw Jay's expression. He seemed to be a million miles away, a hint of sadness in his dark eyes. Mal decided not to say anything. If she sounded worried about him at all in any way, he'd close up, shut down just like he had taught himself to do over the course of his life.

Mal wrapped her arms around Jay's neck. "Thanks Jay", she said to him. Then she let go and hurried out the door. She ran out of the infirmary and found the nearest exit, anxious to get out and smell the fresh air. She'd find answers later. Right now, she wanted to enjoy the beauty in her life that was Ben.

With a spontaneous bout of strength that surged in her legs, she ran as fast as she possibly could through the Enchanted Forest, following the path that she knew by heart. She just hoped that he was really there. She wanted so badly to see him and to tell him that everything was going to be okay, that she'd never disappear like that again, but after what had happened, she wasn't exactly certain on whether or not she could make those promises. She kept running, her legs scalding by the time that she had reached the Enchanted Lake, but when she saw Ben, she didn't care that her legs might fall off. She treaded carefully, stumbling a bit as she made her way down to the lake.

* * *

Ben had never felt so helpless in his entire life. Mal was in the infirmary right now, possibly fighting for her life, and he wasn't even there for her. He felt like such a selfish scumbag for that, but he couldn't bear the suspense, to have Mal so close to him and yet so far away. He stood on the small, old pavilion where he and Mal had their first date. He didn't know how long he had been standing there. So many memories had come up with being here. He would've fallen for Mal no matter what, the love spell just happened to speed up the process, he knew that much.

He felt so useless just standing there like a sack of potatoes, but what could he do? Sure he was King, but that wouldn't wake Mal up. He wished he had magic of his own. He got Fairy Godmother to try and wake up the girls, but it hadn't done anything. Strong magic was at work, and Fairy Godmother had concluded that they let this particular sleeping spell run its course. That was all four hours ago. Ben had the urge to punch something many times in the last four hours. He had to hold it together just a little bit longer. He _was_ the king after all.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake the seed of anxiety that had planted itself into the pit of his stomach. He wanted nothing more than to hold Mal in his arms, to play with her plum locks, to see her mischievous grin and to kiss the lips that made it. Why did this have to happen? It should've been him. He didn't know how, but it should've been him.

It was the sound of soft footsteps on stone that jolted Ben out of his thoughts. He turned around and there she was, his Mal, like a monsoon to a dry desert. Her eyes had a glassy, reflective look about them, holding what looked like unshed tears. He struggled to control his breathing as he closed the distance between them in long strides, wrapping his arms around her petite form, and he didn't plan on letting go anytime soon.


	5. Stolen

**Chapter 4**

Mal stood at the edge of the lake, far enough away to be concealed by forest, close enough to be able to see Ben. She found that she couldn't move a muscle once she had laid eyes on Ben, her Ben. She couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from him. The way that he slouched his shoulders, the way that his head hung dejectedly, the way his shoulders shook periodically as if weeping silently or letting a ragged, worried breath escape. She could practically taste the worry from where she was standing. She could see that what had happened to her took its sweet time crushing Ben, like he held the sky on his shoulders. Guilt started to snake its way into her, its roots taking hold in her heart, squeezing her chest.

Seeing Ben, the way that his anxiety crashed over her like a wave, it brought an unbidden heat and wetness to her eyes, her vision blurring with tears on the verge of breaking through. Her eyes never left Ben as she treaded carefully down to the lake, closer and closer to Ben. Her legs trembled furiously with each step down, nearly tripping over roots a few times, until she reached the stone platform. The second that the sole of her shoe crunched against the platform, Ben's head whipped around.

It was his eyes that shocked her the most, causing her to gasp. Ben could've fooled everyone. Ben seemed clean-cut, not a strand of honey-brown hair out of place. His letter jacket and jeans were totally spotless and his face was handsome as ever. Mal would've been totally fooled if she couldn't see the blatant pain and anxiety in his eyes, the way that they seemed strained and exhausted, and the darkness under them a sign that they were fighting to stay awake, fighting to hold it all together, and the absence of his warm smile that made every girl's knees turn to jelly. "Mal", he said breathlessly, his voice barely a whisper.

In that moment, Ben's eyes lit up, his lips parted for a shaky breath to escape. Instantly, he closed the distance between them in less than two seconds. His arms instantly slid around her, securing her. They seemed to fit her perfectly. Mal's arms were trembling, they clung to Ben so hard, her erratic breathing in sync with his. "You're safe. Thank God", Ben breathed. _'Really?',_ he thought to himself. _'The love of your life has been missing for four days, and all you can think to say is that she's safe?'._

The words that Ben wanted to say seemed just out of reach for Mal. She could sense that he wanted so badly to say more, but the words were nowhere to be found. Mal didn't need words from him. All she needed from him was his presence. It was only just now hitting her that she hadn't been with him in four days, and until now she hadn't realized how much she missed him, even if she wasn't aware of the days that passed her by. It was as if she was awake those four days that she was gone. Ben clung to her just as tightly, afraid that she might slip through his fingers once more. He took one of his hands off of her only to cradle her head, her soft hair working its way between his fingers.

Reluctantly, they pulled back ever so slightly. Mal's arms unraveled themselves from Ben's torso, her hands sliding up to rest on his chest. Mal could feel his heartbeat as Ben's hand rested on her cheek, his thumb caressing it while his other arm enveloped her, keeping her here with him. The whole world seems to dissipate, vanish outside of Ben's arms as the two locked eyes. "I got you something", Ben whispered, reaching into the pocket of his jacket. He took her hand in his ever-so-lightly.

Mal cocked her head to one side in confusion. Was this a little gift that he was going to give to her on the double date, because if so, then _awwww_! Why did Ben have to be so cute? God, he was such a good boyfriend. His hand finally emerged with a small, shining object in his palm. Mal's eyes widened at the sight of the tiny, gold trinket in Ben's palm. It was the Beast ring. She didn't even know that she lost it. She suddenly felt horrible. Of all the things that could've been lost in the woods for four days, it just _had_ to be Ben's ring, just her luck. She was horrified and relieved all in the same moment. He slowly slid the ring onto her index finger. He caressed her palm after the task had been completed, and the motion sent tingles all up and down Mal's spine.

It was all Mal could do not to go weak in the knees as Ben's honey brown eyes seemed to melt her. She knew that they'd eventually have to go back to the school and explain everything to Fairy Godmother, but right now, she was content to bask in the perfect silence and warmth of Ben's embrace.

* * *

Amara ran as fast as her legs would allow, on the off-chance that Jay decided to keep following her. She'd decide whether or not to meet him when she got home, or when she found a new place, whichever stuck out to her more in the future. Her limbs burned as the forest floor pounded under her feet, branches and twigs broken in her wake. She wouldn't stop until she got home. No one had ever gone this deep into the woods, but who knew? Maybe there was a chance that someone had intentionally got lost in the hopes of getting eaten by the Big Bad Wolf?

All she knew was that she had to run. She had to get back to the warehouse and relocate, and who knew? Maybe she'd find a hidden oasis guarded by nymphs somewhere. Maybe she'd create her own little alcove, but in order to conceal it perfectly, it'd have to involve magic. She'd sort it all out later, but right now, her focus was solely on running. With that in mind, she kept on, her paces and strides growing in length and frequency as her survival instincts took over.

Although, something in the back of her mind kept nagging at her, telling her to stay put for once, telling her to quit running. For a minute she thought Jay was getting to her, sending her mind messages, but that'd be impossible, wouldn't it? She didn't know, but it made her stop for a moment to catch her breath. Even if she _did_ decide to meet with him, it would've been way too risky for him to come to her, because no matter _how_ careful he had been, there was the chance that someone would've caught him or followed him or something along those lines. Maybe she sounded paranoid, but Amara wasn't one to take chances. When she made a plan, she made absolute sure that it was airtight. How does everyone think she went this long without being caught?

She was an expert and she knew it, but it wasn't like she'd broadcast it to the entire world. She was also well aware that even the most airtight of plans had a chance of going south. So the option of Jay coming to her was a big no-no, but what other option was there? She'd definitely have to go to him. Keep suspicions down, mislead the authorities. Anything that would trace back to the truth was a big no-no. She couldn't have them asking questions that she couldn't answer.

 _We survive because of our secrets._ That was her mantra, the thing that she had lived by her entire life. It was because of a secret that she'd been able to escape Jafar. It was because of a secret that she escaped the Isle. She herself had stayed a secret for so long, but at the same time, she realized that there was only _one_ person who knew any of her secrets, _Jay._ After all these years, could she trust him? Had he told anyone about her yet? It was only a matter of time before he did. It seemed forever ago since she had seen him last, what if he had changed? What if he was secretly working for his father, what if…

' _For God's sake Amara, stop it. You're being paranoid',_ her mind chastised her. _'You just need to relax'._ It took a few seconds for her erratic thoughts to become still, to become was then that she made her decision. She'd go to him. But how was she going to get into the castle without any suspicions? How would she get into the castle with as little questions asked as possible? It wasn't like she could just _walk_ in there and wait to get captured. Or could she? The more she thought about it, the more it made sense to her, and the more the plan currently formulating in her mind came together.

* * *

"Man it is good to be back", Mal affirmed as she ran the towel through her damp hair. After spending much needed quality time with Ben, she was taken back to her dorm immediately, and the first thing that she did was shower, and God, it felt amazing. Her fluffy purple robe rubbed against her skin, tempting her to sleep. Years on the Isle had taught her not to enjoy all of the fancy comforts that life had to offer, those kinds of things were perceived as weakness, yet here she was, snuggling herself in it like it was catnip. She chuckled at the irony.

"Same here M", Evie chimed in, laying comfortably in her pajamas, which consisted of a camisole and long pants made from royal blue satin and lace trim, fit for the princess that Evie was. Evie had washed all the makeup off of her face and looked in the mirror in five minute intervals, her lips pouting at the sight of her bare-faced reflection. Mal walked over to her bed and shed her robe, throwing on a sports bra, purple T-shirt and black cotton pajama shorts. She combed through her hair and reached over to her nightstand to pick up the crisp manila folder filled with all of her missing assignments. Uugghhh, as if she didn't have enough to do already. Her purple alarm clock read 7:30 PM. She and Evie would probably be able to get most of their work done by the time they went to sleep.

Her head snapped up at the sound of soft knocking on the door. She rolled off of her bed to go and answer it. When she pulled the door back, she was surprised at first, and then disappointed. She had been hoping to see Ben come to her door, but to Mal's disappointment, it was Doug, Evie's too-shy-to-call-it-official-but-might-as-well-be-boyfriend. "Hey Mal", his voice rose in pitch as he looked to the side of her. He gulped a bit, and Mal followed his gaze to Evie, who seemed to be held by it, captivated by his very presence.

"Uh, hello. Earth to Doug", Mal said, waving her hand in front of his face. Doug blinked twice at the action and faced Mal. "Huh? Oh right", Doug said, broken from his Evie-trance. He bent down to his right and picked up a couple of bags. They were Mal and Evie's book bags. ' _I knew I was missing something'_ , Mal thought. Doug handed her the bags, took one last lingering gaze at Evie, then nervously hurried off.

Mal closed the door behind her. She huffed and rolled her eyes, shooting Evie a ' _really?'_ look. "What?", Evie asked, noting Mal's look.

"Are you kidding me? Can you not see the way that he was looking at you just now?", Mal asked incredulously.

"Okay first, I saw perfectly well how he looked at me. Second, he hasn't asked me out yet. He needs to pick up the pace for crying out loud", Evie said, exasperated with Doug's shy behavior. _'It's not just him',_ Mal thought. She shrugged and shook her head, going over to her bed to open her book bag, tossing Evie's book bag to its owner. She filed through her things quickly. Math folder, check. Remedial Goodness 101 homework, check. Heroism folder, huh? Mal didn't take Heroism. She checked the folder's name. Oh that's right. Jay slipped it into her bag stupidly thinking that she'd do his Heroism homework for him. Mal shook her head in annoyance. Other than that, everything seemed to be in order. Except…

Mal eyed her bag warily. Her eyes scanned the inside of the bag a million times. Mal shook her head in disbelief, sifting through her things frantically. "No, no that's not possible. It _has_ to be here". Mal was panicking. She took her book bag and turned it upside down, the contents of it tumbling onto her bed. She began sifting through them repeatedly, frantically as she tried to find the object she so desperately sought. "No, no, no. This isn't happening, this isn't happening, this is not happening", Mal blubbered in denial. Her heart rate began to increase with each passing second.

"Mal, what's wrong?", Evie asked, closing her make-up work folder and walking over to a panicking Mal. "It's gone", Mal's voice raised in volume and pitch.

"What's gone?", Evie asked, confused. Mal never misplaced any of her things since she started to attend Auradon Prep, what could she have possibly lost? "My spell book, it's gone", Mal said, her voice brittle. It took all of Evie's willpower for her not to panic. Maleficent's spell book was one of the most powerful books of all time. If it fell into the wrong hands, to say they were in deep shit would be an understatement.

"M, calm down. How about we go meet with Fairy Godmother? Maybe she can help us", Evie calmly suggested. She knew that whenever Mal was panicked, panicking along with her would help nothing except fan the flames of anxiety. "Okay", Mal agreed, nodded her head in understanding. She picked up her phone and shot Ben a quick text, saying that it was urgent and requested to meet with him and Fairy Godmother in half an hour. She sent texts to Jay and Carlos to keep them in the loop of what was going on. She and Evie changed into normal clothes and headed down to Fairy Godmother's office. Once they approached the mahogany door, they gave a hard knock on the dense wood.

After Mal's initial panic wore off, a sense of determination took her over. She _had_ to get the book back, but first she had to figure out what happened to it. She was certain that the book was in her bag when she last had it. It was never out of her sight. That left Mal's deductive reasoning to determine that the book had been stolen, it was the only explanation. But who could've stolen it? For all Mal knew, she and Evie were unconscious in the woods for four days, but then again, not a scratch was on them.

She thought they'd at least have a little dirt on them, and another thing, how did they not get found by anyone in the first couple of days. They had to have been at least 20 minutes walking distance away from the school, 10 minutes if she and Evie had jogged to get ready for the double date they were supposed to go to. They must've been taken deep into the forest, and been hidden away very well. She contemplated this reasoning as she and Evie entered Fairy Godmother's office.

* * *

Let something be made very clear. Fairy Godmother's office was not for the faint of heart. It was the very definition of pink princess-ness. It looked like Princess Aurora's pink dress had exploded on the walls, varying in shades of pink. Salmon pink, pale pink, coronation pink, watermelon, you name it. The furniture looked like it had sprung from a princess's bedroom, from the dainty mahogany armoire to the beige claw-foot bookshelf with gold paint lining the borders to Fairy Godmother's oak wood desk, not to mention the seats were all varying shades of pink velvet, and _all_ the windows were open. Good god, it was _way_ too bright in there.

Jay sat on an armrest of one of the chairs, and like a good boy, Carlos actually sat _in_ one. Ben sat in another chair, anxiously awaiting Mal's arrival. Jay had a bad feeling about this meeting. He hoped it wasn't anything serious. He hoping on the off chance that Amara had nothing to do with this, that this was about something else, but then again, nothing lately had been cause for an urgent meeting, which led Jay to deduce one thing: Amara had stolen something. It was the only explanation that made sense.

He was jolted out of his thoughts by the sound of the mahogany door creaking open, and in barging a very angry looking plum haired girl and a calm navy-haired one. "It's gone!", Mal said, raising her voice. "Whoa, whoa sweetie calm down", Fairy Godmother cooed soothingly. Jay almost chuckled. Anyone that knew Mal knew that telling her to calm down would only fuel the storm.

"How am I supposed to calm down?! It's gone!", Mal shouted. Ben immediately got out of the lounge chair he was sitting in and ran his hands up and down Mal's shoulders soothingly. "Mal, just try to relax a minute, alright?", Ben's voice said softly. "But-", Mal began, but one look into those big honey brown eyes and it was all over. "Just try alright?", Ben requested. Mal's voice left her for a few brief moments.

"Okay, not to be rude and sorry to break up this _beautiful_ moment, but I'd kind of like to know what this is all about", Jay cut in, disrupting Ben and Mal's flow. Mal shot Jay a death glare, and he rose his hands, feigning surrender. He had the nerve to smirk. Mal rolled her eyes at her childish friend and turned to face Fairy Godmother.

"Mal, what's wrong?", Ben asked worriedly, noting Mal's expression. Anything that made _Mal_ of all people concerned was worth being concerned about. Mal looked around at everyone in the room as soon as Ben had asked the question. She found that her voice had left her as she glanced around at her fellow peers, who were watching her anxiously as if she were about to explode. Maybe she was, maybe she'd break down in front of all of them, because no matter how much she hated to admit it, she hadn't just lost some old book. It used to belong to her mother, and as much she also hated to admit, there was some part of Mal that still loved her. Losing that book was like losing a part of herself.

"My spell book was stolen", Mal said at barely a whisper. An audible gasp could be heard around the room. Mal turned to face Fairy Godmother, who tried to put on a brave face. It succeeded in masking how afraid she truly was. Her hand covered her mouth as if to hold back a scream and if you looked closely, her body trembled in fear. Her eyes looked shocked and her free hand clenched itself on her polished desk.

"Mal please tell me your joking", Fairy Godmother said sternly. Mal scrunched her eyebrows in a ' _really?_ ' look. Did Fairy Godmother seriously think that Mal would joke about something like this? Sure, she came from the Isle, and _maybe_ her old self would've done something like that, but things were different now. Mal would've been offended if not for the blatant fear in Fairy Godmother's eyes.

"I wish I were", Mal said truthfully. Fairy Godmother's expression shifted into a look of contemplation, her hand supporting her elbow. The other hand tapped against her chin contemplatively, thinking hard about the issue. "I need to speak with Mal and Evie, alone", Fairy Godmother decided.

"What?", chorused the boys in the room.

"Please boys", Fairy Godmother asked, the undertone of her voice demanding and firm, but the boys had other ideas. Carlos tapped on the arm of his chair frantically, his face remaining stoic. Jay's face scrunched slightly, but he stayed calm. Ben was the only one who looked like he was about to spontaneously combust. His lips were parted, eyebrows scrunched together in a ' _What the bloody hell?!_ ', face. Understandable, he _was_ the King after all.

"Ben, come on, do what she says", Jay said calmly.

"Yeah, dude come on", said Carlos, assuming Jay's tone. They each wrapped a hand around Ben's elbows, gently guiding him towards the door.

* * *

Ben didn't want to leave. He wanted to be there for Mal. He was tempted to tell Fairy Godmother that he was the one in charge, that she couldn't make him leave, but then he'd be abusing his power. He shook the thoughts out of his head as he was being guided out of the room. He couldn't believe he was thinking about disrespecting Fairy Godmother. He'd been spending way too much time with Jay. Uugghh, he was just stressed, what with Mal being gone and his royal duties and his schoolwork and tourney. He just needed a nap, that was all.

"Guys, what do you think is going on in there? I mean, I know they're talking about Mal's missing spell book, but how? I thought that thing would've at least had _some_ protective magic", Carlos mused as they walked through the hallway, back to their dorms.

"Maybe they're talking about who stole it?", Ben thought.

"How much do you wanna bet that it was the infamous 'Spell Thief?'," Carlos said, feigning a spooky voice and putting air quotes around the words spell and thief.

"I don't need to bet. Maybe there's more to the story", Ben thought, always trying to see the good in people.

"Yeah and maybe one day my mother will shred all of her furs", Carlos muttered sarcastically.

"Come on Carlos, you never know", Ben retorted. Sure, the Infamous Four had chosen good, but good or not, villain's children were always the cynical ones. Maybe one day that would change.

"I'm telling you guys. Who else could it be? Who else was searching through spell books throughout the school? Maybe he or she escaped the Isle somehow", Carlos mused, his eyebrows scrunching together in a contemplative manner. Maybe the Spell Thief had never been on the Isle in the first place.

"Guys, can we _please_ stop talking about this?", Jay said through his teeth. The other two looked at him. Jay had been silent the whole walk up until now. The boys looked at him in confusion. For some unknown reason, Jay was on edge. His entire body was clenched so tightly that he was sure to get knots in a few hours. Shaky breathes were escaping his mouth in ragged patterns and he was trembling slightly. "Dude, are you okay?", Carlos dared to ask.

"I'm _fine_ ", Jay said tightly, his head downcast. His long hair covered his face, but Carlos noticed the faint gold hue coming from his eyes. "I- I gotta go".

Jay raced off to his dorm, leaving Carlos and Ben alone in the hall. "What up with _him_?", Ben asked.

"I don't know. He's been like that ever since he came back from the woods", Carlos replied.

"Think he might know something?", Ben asked, contemplating this new theory.

"Maybe, but it'd be best not to push him. I'm sure he'll tell us when he's ready". At least Carlos hoped he would.

"Alright, I guess I'll see you tomorrow", Ben waved goodbye to Carlos and headed off to his room. As Carlos headed back to his dorm, his mind became clouded with theories of what was going on. Could this Spell Thief be a villain? If so, they'd probably show up at an event and announce that they were planning on taking over the world, and then probably curse someone in the process, you know, the usual villain monologue meant to strike fear into the hearts of many, some spiel like that.

It wasn't usual for villains to wait for so long to make that speech. Villains liked to scare people first. They liked to watch people squirm before they took action, they were a bit childish like that. This person seems to be taking their sweet time with whatever they were planning, which could mean only two things. The first thing was that this person had the potential to be the greatest villain of all time in the history of forever, or they weren't planning on taking over the world, getting revenge, normal villain motives, etc. Maybe the Spell Thief didn't want the world.

But the question remained: What _did_ the Spell Thief want? Who was to say it even was the Spell Thief? But if so, then what was the endgame, and was the Spell Thief even good? Were they evil? Were they neither? Carlos didn't know, and he was pretty sure that he'd drive himself crazy trying to figure this puzzle out. He'd probably pick it up later since Jay wasn't telling him anything. Jay never told anybody jack squat, and Carlos didn't see him starting now.

But what confused Carlos the most was the way that Jay reacted to the subject of the Spell Thief. All the other times that Jay had been confronted with subjects of little appeal to him, he'd just brush it off like nothing even happened and he'd bottle up his feelings. But this time, Jay had been tense. Jay had been wound up tight like he was wearing a shock collar that'd gone off the second that Carlos started talking about the Spell Thief. Jay _definitely_ knew something about what was going on, that much Carlos knew.

The last time Jay was _this_ worked up was when he came home from the woods one day when they were ten years old. Carlos remembered that he was on his own out shopping in the marketplace, searching through the used makeup stands for his mother's lipstick. All of a sudden the street started to clear. There was whispered news about how Jay had been on the trail of the infamous Shadow Thief, the name that the citizens of the Isle had given them. Thinking about it now, Carlos thought that the people on the Isle would've at least picked a more sinister name, what with them being villains and all. But now, the more Carlos thought about it, the more he knew that no other name would suit the thief.

The thief might as well have been a shadow, only staying in the dark, never showing themselves, slipping in and out unnoticed, only taking things of value. Jay had been chasing this very thief that day, and now he was back. He looked super tense, his entire body clenched and trembling like he was detonated and he was about to explode in the next five seconds. He seemed like he was about to have a panic attack and punch someone all at once. He kept his head down, and Carlos was pretty sure that he was the only one that saw this. Jay looked so agitated that his eyes seemed to glow, radiating his inner feelings. They glowed gold in sharp contrast to his usual dark pigment. At first Carlos thought he was hallucinating because after about two seconds the gold was gone, but thinking back on it today made him realize that he was the only one who had seen it.

Seeing how Jay had been today, it made Carlos put two and two together. It also made him wonder what else that Jay was keeping from them.

* * *

A familiar sensation took hold of Jay as he raced back to his dorm room. His heartrate increased and small beads of perspiration were beginning to form on his forehead. Once he approached his room, he shoved the door open and raced inside. He slammed the door shut, the sound resonating throughout the halls of the floor. He was having a panic attack. _'No, no, no, no, no. Not now. Please not now'_ Jay pleaded to his body, but to no avail. The insides of his forearms continued to tighten, his eyes growing warm. He ran into the bathroom and locked the door.

This was the third time this week that this was happening. It only happened when he got upset or angry or agitated. He tried not to look in the mirror, knowing what awaited his reflection. Each time he had tried not to look, each time he had failed. This time wouldn't be any different. Slowly, the familiar temptation took over, and here he was, seeing himself for what he was becoming. '

There in the mirror, in the place of his usual dark eyes sat the golden eyes of a snake, with thin slit-like pupils. The skin on his forearms had been replaced with the slick amber scales of a snake and black scales outlining the sides. It wasn't this big before. It started out with just scales on his wrist, and then the scales gradually started taking over, and then came the eyes. Most of the time, he could control when they came, but only if he stayed calm. Now it was getting stronger, and Jay wasn't sure how much longer he could keep it a secret.

He didn't even know what the hell was happening to him, how was he supposed to explain this to his friends? He didn't know what he was supposed to think, what he was supposed to feel. Every time he saw those eyes in the mirror, it made Jay think of his father. Was he _becoming_ Jafar? No. He refused to believe that. Sure he'd joke and goof off and maybe he was a little bit cocky and mischievous, but he wasn't his father. He'd _never_ be his father. He'd made his mind up about that a long time ago.

He heard a soft knock at the bathroom door. "Go away, please", he pleaded. He needed to be alone. He didn't want anyone to see him like this. The soft knock came again. Jay got even more agitated, and in that moment it was all he could think about. Couldn't Carlos or whoever was knocking on the door see that he wanted some privacy? The knock came once more, and this time Jay stalked to the door, aggravation clouding his mind. "I said go aw-", he said as he was yanking the door open, but was stopped dead in his track by who stood on the other side.

Amara stood sheepishly across from him. Even though he hadn't seen her face in such a long time, he'd recognize her eyes anywhere. They were the same as the ones he had seen earlier that day, and they were the same ones that he had first laid eyes upon six years ago. She hugged herself and ran her hands up and down her arms. Jay could sense that she as uncomfortable. She looked up at him with shy eyes and bit her lip before she said anything.

"Hey", she said feebly as they stared at each other for Hades-knows-how-long, years of unspoken words yearning to escape.

* * *

 **Hello everyone! I have returned to the living! I'm sorry for such a long wait, school and finals really get you. I hope y'all have enjoyed this chapter and please feel free to review and let me know what you think of the story so far. Thanks for reading! :)**


	6. Field Trip

**Chapter 5**

Amara wasn't sure what she was expecting to accomplish on this little venture. It was 8:00 PM when she had slipped into Jay's room, the cool night air sending chills down her spine and giving birth to goosebumps on her skin. The notion of accepting outside help was fairly difficult for her to accept, but as of late, no other options had presented themselves. She began to question why she was even here, and then she remembered. She had to at least tell Jay what was going on, had to tell him the part that he would play in her plan, at least that's what she kept telling herself.

At this point she was seriously conflicted. All her life, she had taught herself not to let her emotions get in the way of what needed to be done, her self-preservation instincts demanding it. Right now, she was seriously regretting the decision to ignore said instincts. Her heart was beating faster than it ever had before as she crossed the window sill. It had never done that before. Was she, dare she say, nervous? She closed the window as slowly as she could and locked it, lowering the curtains slowly, careful not to alert anyone of her presence. She took a seat on the bed to the left of the window. It had the strangest things on it. A tiny black and white sweater, chew toys and a few copper brown fuzzies. Was that dog hair? Yeesh, Jay's roommate must've really had a dog fetish.

Her eyes traveled all around his room and eventually fell on a sleeveless leather vest of his. On the back of it was a cobra, its forked tongue flicked out and its long body recoiled as if about to strike. She walked towards the vest, running her hands along the soft, dark leather and eyeing the cobra emblazoned on it. The cobra stared at her, captivated her for reasons that Amara neither knew, nor could explain. She felt as though she and the cobra had something in common, shared a kindred spirit. She sighed to herself, thinking that she must be going crazy if she felt like she and a leather snake shared something in common. She shook her head and shrugged, tapping impatiently on her side and then stopping abruptly. She couldn't make too much noise or she would draw unwanted attention.

Her eyes wandered to the full length mirror sitting on a chair on the right side of the room. She didn't look at reflective surfaces very much, so she barely knew what she looked like. Curious, she walked cautiously towards it. She always caught glimpses of mirrors from the places that she occasionally stole from, which usually gave her a sense of what she looked like. She didn't know how to feel about what she saw in the mirror. Her caramel skin was mostly clean, and her dark, slightly frizzy hair had been tied back in a low messy bun. If she hadn't cut it herself, by now her hair would've been as long as Rapunzel's once was and still the choppy ends came down to her hips. Her face was now heart-shaped and her lips were medium-sized. She'd never seen her reflection this close up before and this clear for that matter. Fascinated, she reached out to touch her reflection.

She was jolted out of her thoughts by the sound of quick, loud footsteps. Someone was running down the hall. Amara tuned in her ears to get a better sense of the situation. Another perk of having magical powers was that all of her senses were heightened tenfold. It took her years to condition herself to her surroundings, fine tune the things that she wanted, feel the things she wanted at the desired magnitude. She listened to the footsteps, and along with that, she heard a frantic, erratic heartbeat, along with inaudible pleading, to the naked ear at least. _'No, please no. Please, please not now. Please stop, stop it',_ the voice pleaded feebly. Amara knew that voice immediately.

It was Jay's voice, which meant that he was coming to this room, which meant that she had to hide. _Shit._ She didn't have enough time to make even an incomplete invisibility spell, so she made the snap decision to slip under the bed. She grabbed the wooden frame and her wiry form instantly complied with which direction it was being commanded. She lay flat against the dusty carpet and covered her mouth so that the sounds of her breathing wouldn't divulge her whereabouts. She heard the door open and slam rapidly. The door slam was so loud that it rattled her brain. Maybe to a magic-less human being, it would've been enough just to make them flinch, but as for her, she had to bite down on her tongue and tighten her hold on her mouth to keep from yelping in pain.

She heard stomps across the room and another door slam. _'Seriously?',_ she thought with annoyance. It'd be a miracle of she left this room with her hearing intact. She craned her neck to see if anyone else was in the room, but to her relief, it would just be them. Amara nearly groaned in contempt at the ache in her neck. She was going to have _such_ whiplash tomorrow morning. She carefully slid herself out from under the bed, and then suddenly waves of agitation kept crashing over her like tidal waves as she stood upright. Naturally, the next thing she did was come up with a bajillion reasons why suddenly she was feeling this way.

Was it because she was in uncharted territory? No, that couldn't be it. She'd been in uncharted territory _plenty_ of times in her life. Was it because Jay stood on the other side of the bathroom door? It was _Jay_ , so of course she may have been a bit nervous, but _agitated?_ Maybe, but her gut told her it was something more than that. From the bathroom, she could hear ragged breaths, filled to the brim with anxiety. Her heart suddenly ached for some unfathomable reason, maybe because she could sense that for whatever the cause, Jay was hurting. But why would she be feeling these things now? It wasn't like she and Jay were ever a thing, no matter what she may have wanted in the past. They had spent months meeting in secret because the Goblin Wharf ships only left the Isle every few months. She decided that it didn't matter now, what was done was done.

Without thinking she slowly walked to the bathroom door and raised her hand, closing it into a fist to knock on it, and then stopped inches away from the door. Did she really want to do this? Did she honestly want to reveal herself to the world, even though it might be the only option for her to be able to do what she needed to do? Currently, she wasn't getting anywhere with what she was doing. And pretty soon, Mal would come looking for the spell book. It would be better for her to do some damage control sooner rather than later. With that in mind, she knocked on the door softly.

"Go away, please", his voice pleaded. Hearing his voice made her heart ache even more. What could've happened to him to make him sound so defeated? Could it have had to do with her? Her heart clenched further at the thought. It took all her strength and willpower not to go back through the window and walk out of his life for good. She couldn't do that. That was the coward's way. She knocked on the door once more, firmly planting her feet were they stood. She heard him come towards the door and heard his hand wrap around it. "I said go awa-", he nearly growled as he was opening the door, but as soon as they locked eyes, it was like he had stopped breathing.

The first things that she noticed were his eyes. They were glowing gold for a few seconds and Amara could've sworn that his pupils were slit like a snake's, but then just as soon as she saw it, it was gone, and their usual dark pigment was back in its rightful place. His eyes were the widest that she'd ever seen them, his mouth hanging open in disbelief and utter astonishment. Suddenly, waves of different emotions crashed around Amara, smothering her. Shock, disbelief, skepticism, hurt, ecstasy. Amara nearly blushed at that last one. She could see all of those emotions blatant in his wonderful dark eyes. She didn't know why she was feeling that way, or if these feelings were her own, but she knew one thing. Jay wasn't going to let her go, not a second time. ' _As if I'd be strong enough to leave him again',_ she thought to herself, God forbid she ever admit that to him.

She dropped her gaze and hugged herself sheepishly. She suddenly felt self-conscious, but nevertheless, she forced herself to look him in the eye. "Hey", she said at barely a whisper. Hey? Seriously? That was the best she could do? And she wasn't even looking him in the eye, how much more pathetic could she get? "Hey", he answered back, using the same quiet tone that she had. This made her look up at him in confusion. Was he as nervous and anxious as she felt? Was he angry with her? She didn't know. His eyebrows squinted together inquisitively. "What, what are you doing here?", he asked softly.

Amara didn't know why, but suddenly she found herself dropping her gaze again. She nearly chastised herself out loud. ' _Amara, quite acting like a damned coward and face him already",_ she kept thinking to herself. But for some unfathomable reason, she couldn't find it in her to do it. She felt fingertips slide under her chin and gently lift her face, her eyes meeting Jay's. He seemed to stare right into her as if to seek out her deepest, darkest thoughts and emotions; no other words could describe the incredibly intimate way that he was looking at her right now. She swore she heard her breath hitch, but if Jay had noticed, he didn't acknowledge it. "Amara", he said, urging her on.

Oh the irony. The eyes that she hid from only moments ago were now the ones that she wanted to get lost in, but right now, she had to be strong. Sucking in a determined breath, she backed away from his warm, caressing fingertips and cast a sound-proof field over the room, resulting briefly in a distorted gold hue like rippling water surrounding the walls, before it disappeared. Jay gave her a confused look. "So no one hears us", she confirmed. After a few seconds, the questioning look came upon Jay's face once more. Taking a deep breath, she stared him straight in the eye. "You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, okay? You have to trust me, can you do that?", she asked.

Jay bit his lip contemplatively, never taking his eyes off of her. The slight nod in his head had confirmed his answer. "What do you need?", he asked. Truth be told, if she asked him to move a mountain, he wouldn't hesitate even one second.

"Jay, I need you to turn me in".

* * *

The alarm clock blared, the shrill monkey noises pounding into Aziz's unwilling ears as it jolted him out of sleep so rudely. The damned thing was a gift from his uncles, Genie and Abu. He loved them, but sometimes they made him want to jump off of a cliff. He moaned in contempt as he pounded on the blasted thing to stop it from waking up the whole school. He almost dreaded going on the annual school wide field trip today. _Every_ year, they would hike to the depths of the Enchanted Forest and they were told the story of the Eclipse, a story that took place before any of their parents were even thought of. They used this day to stress the importance of the beginning of Auradonian history.

"Dude turn that damned thing off!", his roommate, Casey, groggily half spat, half groaned. Casey was the son of one of the Muses (but for the life of him, Aziz couldn't remember which). He had a bordering-on-buff frame, a slightly round face, skin a few shades darker than Aziz's, chocolate brown eyes, full lips and close cropped dark hair.

"Don't you think I've tried? Besides, _you_ need to get your ass out of bed now anyway. Or else we're gonna be late for the field trip", Aziz retorted, throwing a pillow in Casey's face. Aziz turned on the light to his bathroom and grabbed his toothbrush, going through his daily morning routine. If one saw his reflection, they could see that he was the spitting image of his father. Slightly darkened caramel skin and a lean, toned frame with considerable muscles, short dark hair and dark russet eyes, a combination that made him eye candy to more than one girl at Auradon Prep.

It could've also had to do with the fact that he was going to be Sultan one day. Those girls all saw him as a prize, or a piece of meat, depending on which direction the girl's thoughts went. Now he knew how his mother felt when his grandfather (Allah rest his soul. He had died from a heart attack when Aziz was seven) had tried to set her up with all of those suitors. It made him uncomfortable just thinking about it. Why didn't those girls go fangirl over Jay Khuldjan, his _supposed_ arch-nemesis?

It wasn't like Aziz had any beef with him, nor did he have any beef with any of the VK's. It didn't make a difference to him who anybody's parents were. Jay wasn't bad. He could just be a bit cocky at times, which got under Aziz's skin, not that he'd ever let on that little tidbit. If people thought the students of Auradon Prep were bad, they should spend a summer in the Royal Court of Agrabah. It made him sick just thinking about it. The way that the nobles stuck up their noses at everything, the way that they looked at his father like he was scum on the bottom of their shoe sometimes, but his mother always found a way to put them in their place, something that warmed Aziz's heart to the brim.

He shrugged it off and kept on the task of brushing his teeth. The alarm clock was still going off, the shrill monkey cries piercing his ears. Aziz rinsed his mouth out quickly and exited the bathroom just as Casey chucked a pillow at the stupid thing, causing it to topple over and _finally_ shut up. "Thank the gods _that's_ over", Casey moaned before plunking back down on his bed. Aziz walked over to the light switch beside his bed and flipped it on, which made Casey groan in contempt, shoving a pillow over his own head. Aziz rolled his eyes and rolled over his bed to open his dresser. He pulled out black jeans and a grey cotton shirt with a V-neck. He slipped on a purple and black flannel shirt over that, along with a maroon beanie and black combat boots, and then he stood up and picked up the last piece of his ensemble.

On his dresser laid something that was gifted to him at birth. It was a thick gold chain with a gold elephant charm. The elephant's ears stuck out all the way, its trunk curving to the right and its tusks extended over that. The elephant looked straight out, and it seemed to look Aziz in the eyes as he stared at it in the mirror. The elephant was a symbol of wisdom, power, and peace. His parents had predicted the chill part of his personality through the elephant.

He slipped it on and his eyes fell on another necklace. It made him stay still for a moment. Slowly but surely, his hand made its way to the second gold chain on his dresser. He held the charm in his hand, eyeing it contemplatively. It was supposed to be given to his twin sister, but alas, she was abducted before it could be given to her, and before he got to know her. His parents didn't think there was any sense in keeping it from him, but they hadn't told him her name. As far as he knew, _no one_ knew her name. The necklace was a cat, a symbol of independence. They had predicted that she would be like their mother, feisty, outspoken, and independent.

He always carried it around. He didn't know why, but it had always seemed to give him a sense of comfort when the two necklaces were near each other. He quickly shrugged it off and slung his pack over his shoulder, walking over to Casey's lounging body and chucked the pillow to the side of him and giving Casey a good slap in the face. "Casey, get up. I mean it. We're gonna be late for the field trip", Aziz instructed, his Sultan voice kicking in.

"Dude, just because you gonna be king or Sultan or whatever the hell it is of an empire, doesn't mean you get to boss the rest of us around", Casey said begrudgingly as he dragged himself out of bed.

"No, but I'll be damned if I have to face the wrath of your mother and the rest of your aunts, Casillus", Aziz retorted, spouting out his roommate's real name. He rolled his eyes at Casey. He just was _not_ a morning person, was he? At this, Casey quickly got dressed, and he and Aziz ran down to the cafeteria before they missed the group.

* * *

Mal had been on edge ever since she found out her spell book had been stolen. Sure, it was only last night, as far as she knew. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about it. Had the Spell Thief stolen it when she and Evie had been kidnapped? A chill went down Mal's spine at the thought. It felt like there was a sword over her head that would drop at any moment. She kept waiting for a dark cloud of doom to surround Auradon, but no such thing had happened, not yet anyway. Jay had told them about the Spell Thief, about how they met on the Isle, how he helped her escape. The Spell Thief trusted Jay, and they needed to use that to their advantage. They had spent all last night formulating a plan, setting a trap for the Spell Thief, with _her_ as the bait.

Now here she was, hiking through the Enchanted Forest on some annual field trip that Auradon Prep always went on, the very place that she had been kidnapped. The snap of a twig made itself known to Mal's ears, and in response she immediately whipped her head back. She looked around for a minute before turning back around. She shook her head and shrugged. There were students in high heels complaining about how their shoes were getting dirty, guys slapping themselves because they had forgotten to put on mosquito spray, and all that time, she had been looking to the woods, in between the teenagers to try and see what lurked in the shadows. She had been paranoid all day, how long was it going to be before she started crying wolf? She chastised herself for her weakness. She shouldn't be afraid, why was she so jumpy now?

It was because of the Spell Thief. Mal was scared that she was going to pop out at any moment and steal her away again, or even worse, steal one of her friends. She was afraid that the Spell Thief had an entirely different agenda, and she was afraid that this plan wouldn't work. An unbidden rush of anger flooded into Mal at that moment. Anger at the person who had kidnapped her and one of her best friends, at how it was affecting her, but most of all, anger at herself. She let herself be kidnapped. She had been off-guard and unprepared, she felt so stupid for not trying to shield herself with her magic. She was angry at the fact that for four days, somehow, she was kept under and she hadn't been strong enough to wake up in time. Mal thought that she should've at least been able to do _something_.

But worst of all, she had let her mother's spell book be stolen right from under her nose. It made her furious just to think about it. When she got her hands on the Spell Thief, it would not be pretty, that much she knew. Mal shook her head and sighed, as if it would expel the tension that wracked her body. She knew she shouldn't be thinking those thoughts; they would only make her as bad as her mother. She was so lost in thought that she almost didn't notice the warm hand that had placed itself at the small of her back.

Startled, she jumped a bit and whipped her head around, only to find warm, honey brown eyes staring back at her. "Hey", Ben said gently to her, noting her squirrel-ish behavior. "Hey", Mal shrugged dejectedly, running a hand through her hair as she sighed deeply. "How are you holding up?", Ben asked gently. "As well as can be expected", Mal answered. As they hiked through the woods with the rest of the student body, they stayed silent for a time.

"Hey", Ben said to Mal softly as his fingers went under Mal's chin. He gently lifted her face to meet his eyes. "It's gonna be alright Mal. We're gonna find your mother's spell book. Then we're gonna catch the Spell Thief and everything is gonna be okay. I promise", Ben said sincerely, smiling at her with his knee-melting grin. "Come on, can you smile for me? Please?", he asked sweetly. Mal's head dropped as she smiled shyly. _'How did I get so lucky?'_ , she thought to herself. When she looked back up, Ben gave her a sweet and unexpected peck on the nose. She giggled as Ben gathered her to his side and they continued hiking.

* * *

Jay was completely on edge that day, as he had been for nearly the past week now, but today happened to be a perfect time to be on edge. Jay had fed his friends the information that the 'Spell Thief' was planning on coming after Mal the day of the field trip, just as Amara had asked him to do. There were guards forming a perimeter around all of the students in case she decided to "show up". Jay wasn't just on edge. He was _terrified that_ this plan would all be for naught and that everything would go south.

He was sure that pretty soon, he'd have to come clean to his friends about Amara, and about the other thing. Okay maybe _not_ the other thing, but he would definitely tell them about Amara when the time was right. Suddenly, his ears had involuntarily perked up and picked up a far off conversation. What? Since when did he have super-hearing? "It's gonna be alright Mal. We're gonna find your mother's spell book. Then we're gonna catch the Spell Thief and everything is gonna be okay", the voice said.

He recognized it as Ben's voice, and he felt his neck tense at what Ben had said about catching the Spell Thief. Jay could feel his blood boiling with fury. How dare he even think about capturing Amara? His heart suddenly began beating rapidly. His eyes began to grow warm, which usually meant that they were glowing, and the skin on his forearm began to tighten, which meant that the blasted scales had sprouted. He suddenly dropped his head in order to avert his eyes from anything or anyone that could notice. He started to take deep breaths in order to get himself to calm down. _In and out, in and out._ He let out a sigh of relief as his heart rate began to decrease and his eyes began to cool down. He was so glad that he had chosen to wear a long-sleeved shirt today. He didn't know how he would've explained the scales to anyone.

As he hiked, he couldn't stop thinking about last night, about what Amara told him that she was going to do. It was an incredibly risky move, but then again, Amara was a risk taker. That was one of the things that he loved about her. He tried to look nonchalantly throughout the woods to see even the tiniest speck of black, at least then he would know for sure that she was okay. "Hey, Jay!", someone called, jerking him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Ben and Mal jogging towards him. "Come on, it's about to start", Ben said, beckoning him forward. Jay's gaze shifted to where Ben was jogging and his breath audibly hitched in shock. Everyone was flocking around Fairy Godmother, standing in the very ruins that he chased Amara into, and the very speck of black that he so desperately sought was perched on a tree branch right above Mal.

* * *

Fairy Godmother inhaled a shaky breath, preparing herself for the story she was about to tell once again to the student body of Auradon. She didn't exactly find the topic of the Eclipse pleasurable to talk about, but at least she wouldn't have to delve into the nitty-gritty details. Each year, she had done it, and this year would be no different, but some small part of her knew that that was only wishful thinking. The Eclipse was happening _this_ year, and the responsibility of preparing Auradon for it fell to her. She knew that soon, she'd have to tell Ben everything that was going on.

The Eclipse spoke of magic in its darkest, most wicked form, which was why it was imperative that the grimoires of the villains stay out of the wrong hands. She had even contemplated asking Mal, Jay, or even Evie for help, but then she remembered that wouldn't know anything about it. Their parents either would've kept it to themselves or wouldn't've even remembered anything about it. Fairy Godmother was hoping for the latter. She smoothed her shirt and put her game face on. She had hope that help would come soon, and if not, Auradon would soon see dark days.

* * *

Mal saw Jay's gaze shift up to a tree, his eyes widening in shock. Fortunately, the students were all too engrossed in the story that Fairy Godmother was telling to notice. Mal's hand instantly went to the bracelet in her pocket. She had stayed up all nearly all night last night on this particular spell. She had gotten it out of Evie's spell book, which used to belong to her mother. Surprisingly, it was good for more than just changing your appearance.

The bracelet had been enchanted with a fusion of two spells, a binding and sleeping spell. The binding spell would paralyze the Spell Thief, and for as long as she wore the bracelet, she would remain asleep. That'd teach her to mess with the daughter of Maleficent. The whole thing almost made Mal giddy. Jay finally locked eyes with Mal and gave a slight nod. It was time. Mal looked up at Ben with her telltale mischievous grin. Even if Ben hadn't known about the plan, the lack of brightness in Mal's eyes as she was smirking immediately sent up warning signs to him. He gave a slight nod to let her know he was ready. Mal's eyes found Evie's and in response, Evie tugged her ear, signaling Mal.

The sound of guards yelling broke them out of their trance as they stared at one guard after another flocking to some unknown location. They were all yelling, but all Mal could make out was something along the lines of "grab that thief- there he is!", things like that. Mal squinted her eyes toward the direction that the guards were running, and stopped dead in her tracks. She felt her eyes widen as she saw a black blur shooting off like a bullet as the guards chased after it. Mal's heart beat so hard it threatened to catch in her throat. Suddenly, it was as if everything around Mal dissipated into nothing as she focused on that black blur, and determination swelled in her as she took off running in its direction.

* * *

When Amara heard the shouts of the guards, she knew it was time to run. This plan couldn't've turned out more perfect. She'd put up a fight with the guards and eventually they'd subdue her, put her in confinement, therefore snuffing out any questions that would've come up. The thought of confinement almost made her sick to her stomach though. She knew that it was all part of the plan, but still, the thought of others subduing her, even if it _was_ just a show, bothered her just a bit. Maybe the Isle had rubbed off on her more than she thought. After all, weakness wasn't tolerated there, nor was it tolerated by her pesky survival instincts.

She shook it off and kept her focus on running. She knew she had to slow down a bit when the shouts of the guards began to grow muffled. She slowed her pace only by a fraction and "tripped" on a rock for good measure. Maybe it was too good of a measure. As she looked up, the guards had gained quite a significant amount of ground on her. It pushed her to wonder why they hadn't taken any vehicle of any kind, but her mind quickly refocused. Amara scrambled to regain her footing and resumed running. Frequently, she turned her head back to see where the guards were, then whipped her head back to the front. Pretty soon, she was going to have to end this. She slowed down just a fraction more just to give the guards a better chance at catching up to her.

She hastily scanned her surroundings, her head darting back and forth as she panted. What was her next move? The trees? No, she was trying to _get_ captured. They'd know something was up if she was taking her sweet time sitting in the branches. It'd have to be on the ground somewhere, but where? Her contemplations were cut short when she felt arms wrap around her chest rather forcefully. ' _I guess right here is as good a place as any_ ', she thought. The guard that had her grunted as he struggled to contain her. She struggled to get free as two more guards in black pantsuits advanced on her. She used her legs to spring up off of the ground and deliver hard kicks to both of the guards' faces, the momentum giving her the opportunity to twist out of her captor's hold.

She rolled to the side as another guard tried to grab her, sweeping the legs out from under another. She rolled once more and stepped up off of the ground only to resume her running. Stupid survival instincts. "Hey!", she heard a girl's voice yell angrily. Huh? The next thing she knew, she felt her body being yanked onto the ground, and the next thing she knew, she was being pinned down by a very pissed-off purple haired girl. Mal. She gave Amara a look of pure malice (no pun intended) and her lips were curled back in a snarl worthy of her dragon ancestors. At this point, Amara had had enough. For a few brief moments, she didn't care about her plan or the fact the whole reason that she had done this was to get captured. In that moment, she gave herself over to her instincts.

She tucked her knees to her chest and threw Mal off of her with her legs. Mal coughed and wheezed in pain, and suddenly Amara was on top of her, her hand closing around the girl's throat, which left her arms totally free. Mal thrashed around and her hand came to Amara's wrist, which prompted her to squeeze harder. Wait, what was she doing? She couldn't hurt Mal, that wasn't part of the plan. She never intended to do anything of the sort. So why was she doing it? ' _She threatened_ me', was the first thing that came to Amara's mind, but the thought seemed disembodied, not her own.

She had been so focused on her thoughts that she had become completely blind to the fact that Mal had taken the opportunity to slap something onto Amara's wrist, and only then did her mistake register in her mind. First she felt her body going completely numb, and then the unconsciousness began to seep into her mind like a cold, heavy fog, descending over her as her mind and body succumbed to the darkness.

* * *

 **A.N.: Hello everyone. I apologize for the long wait. A few things before I go. First things first, I do not own Aziz. He was originally supposed to be a minor character in the movie, but he was deleted. Nevertheless, I don't own him. He is portrayed by Dejan Loyola. Also routine disclaimer: I do not own Descendants, no matter how much I wish upon a star that I did. I only own Amara and Casey and all of my OC's that I plan to create in the future. That's all I have. Thanks for reading! :)**


	7. Capture

**Chapter 6**

" _Today's the day", Amara said wistfully. Jay was sitting right next to her, waiting on the roof of the wharf warehouse, the beautiful Auradon taking up most of the view. They were too far up to be seen, but when the time came for them to descend, it wouldn't present a huge challenge. The boats would be leaving within a matter of hours. If not for him, she'd never be able to get onto the boats without suspicion. She could never thank him enough for this. She could never get close enough to the wharfs after the coin incident. Of course the goblins choose_ that _time of all times to wise up. Since Jay was a regular pickpocket, the goblins were used to him being there, therefore he was able to slip in without suspicion and find the schedule. Today was the day, she was_ finally _getting off the island. Finally, she was going to go to Auradon and complete her destiny, just like her vision had told her she would._

 _Her very first vision came to her when she was six years old, the night before she escaped Jafar's shop. Why Jafar had decided to teach her to read and write and not keep her dumb was beyond her, maybe because he just needed her to be able to read spell books and carry out spells by herself and crap like that. Her visions had told her that Jafar wanted to control her, that her destiny awaited her in Auradon. It was because of her visions that she knew she didn't belong on the Isle of the Lost, how she knew Jafar wasn't her father. Her thoughts traveled to her most recent vision. It was of a family. There was a husband and wife and their young son who looked to be about her age._

 _They all had the same dark hair and caramel skin tone as her. The boy and his father both had a slight reddish-brown tint to their dark eyes, and having never seen what she looked like, she wondered if she had that same tint for some reason. She had been having that same vision, for days now. Who was this family? Why did she keep seeing them? Were they somehow connected to or involved with her destiny? She figured she'd find out soon enough. She turned back to Jay, and was greeted with the sight of his frown practically drilling a hole into the roof._

" _Jay, what's wrong?", she asked, putting her hand on his shoulder. She was almost surprised that he didn't shy away from her touch, nor offering any resistance to it._

" _I don't know your name", he answered honestly. This answer baffled her. He was upset over not knowing her_ name _? No, it had to be something more than that. "What?", she asked._

" _You're leaving in a few hours. We've spent all this time together and I don't even know your name", he said, his expression remaining solemn._

 _Jay didn't want her to leave. He'd never say it out loud, but it was true. She was the first person that ever truly cared about him in a world where love and compassion were practically non-existent. She the_ one _person who he could count on, the one person who lit him up inside, and now she was leaving, and he might possibly never see her again._

" _I have to go Jay, you know that", she told him._

" _Yeah I know, because it's your destiny. You can't do what you need to do from here. So you have to go, I_ get _it", Jay said in clipped tones, drawing further into himself, trying to shut out the tightness in his chest._

" _Then come with me", she blurted out before she even had a chance to think about what she was saying. Jay's head immediately snapped up, an incredulous look plastered across his face. The truth was, Amara wanted to leave Jay just about as much as she wanted to stick her head into a barrel of blood sucking leeches. She had a connection with him that she doubted she'd have with anyone else in her life, possibly the_ only _connection she'd ever make with anyone. She had found a kindred spirit in him; he was the one person that she could trust, the one person that she truly cared about, and she didn't know how she was going to let him go._

* * *

As soon as Mal had slapped on the bracelet, the Spell Thief collapsed and crumpled like a rag doll. She lay beside the Spell Thief for a few moments, her chest heaving up and down as her body quickly recovered from its assault. She took deep breaths in an attempt to get her heart rate to go down. Mal hadn't been expecting the Spell Thief to be _that_ strong. Great, _once_ again, the Spell Thief had caught her off guard. This chick was really starting to get on her nerves. Mal's knees wobbled as she rose up from the ground, threatening to cave as she steadied herself on a tree. She could hear the alarmed shouts of many Auradon Prep students as they ran to see what was causing all of the commotion. No doubt there were going to be a few words from Fairy Godmother for the field trip being interrupted.

Mal stared at the Spell Thief's limp form for who-knows-how-long. She almost hadn't noticed the large mass of Auradon Prep students beginning to surround the scene of the incident. Mal didn't know what to think as she stared at the lifeless form of her once-captor that lay sprawled across the forest floor. She didn't know what it was about it that entranced her, but for whatever unfathomable reason, she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away. She figured she would've stayed there forever had a hand on her shoulder not yanked her back to reality. "Mal, are you okay? What happened? Did she hurt you?" she heard a familiar feminine voice. Soon, Evie's face snaked into Mal's direct vision, her concerned eyes searching for any signs of physical confrontation.

"Yeah E. I'm fine", Mal replied as she wrapped her friend in a reassuring embrace, which Evie reciprocated. She felt a blanket of calm descend over her that came with her friend's presence. When they pulled out of it, the sound of Evie's startled gasp had indicated that she had seen their once-captor's comatose body. "So that's her?" Evie whispered, her voice carrying nearly imperceptible tones of disdain. Mal's nod told Evie all that she needed to know. Mal saw the guards whispering to one another, nodding to one another before immediately sensing a faint buzzing energy. Her focus shifted back to the Spell Thief, and then she immediately noticed something that wasn't there before. As she concentrated, a faint gold haze surrounding the body came into view. The energy radiating from the body was growing by the second, energy that Mal knew as magic.

Before she knew it, one of the guards was bending down to pick up the body. "Wait don-", Mal tried to warn, but it was too late. The next thing she knew, a blinding flash of light had burst forth and the guard was thrown against one of the nearby trees. Judging by the sound of a loud snap and the cries of pain that followed immediately after, Mal knew that the guard's spine was broken. His colleagues rushed to him and carried him off somewhere. Of course. The Spell Thief must've been surrounded by a protective field, a last line of defense in case the wielder was incapacitated in some way. There was one part about that theory that bothered her though. That type of spell took an unbelievable amount of power. Note to self: watch out for her when she wakes up.

Great, now how were they going to move her? In the crowd of students, Mal sought out familiar faces, when all of a sudden, the crowd began to part for someone. Emerging from the throng of students, Ben, followed by Jay and Carlos, stopped dead in his tracks as he took in the scene before him. Ben covered his mouth in astonishment, and Carlos merely stood there with his eyes the widest that Mal had ever seen them, his mouth hanging all the way open. However, it was Jay that worried her the most. While Ben and Carlos were wearing their shock right on their sleeves, Jay appeared to be trying intensely to mask his.

The Auradonians were too engrossed in the scene before them to notice the fury that Jay tried so desperately to conceal. She could feel it radiating from him. His body was completely still, save for his slightly flared nostrils, the veins in his neck that could be seen and his knuckles nearly white they were clenched so hard, almost as if he were trying to contain _more_ than just his feelings. She almost thought she saw his eyes glowing for just a second before it stopped, and his eyes were their usual dark pigment. Following suit, he began to visibly relax, his fists unfurling and his shoulders drooping back down to their normal place. ' _What was that all about?_ ', Mal thought. What could possibly have sparked the flames of Jay's fury? It couldn't have been the Spell Thief, could it? He helped them catch her. Maybe it had something to do with loyalty or something, Mal didn't know.

"Alright everyone. Move along, there's nothing to see here. Let us take care of everything. That's it, move along", Fairy Godmother reassured, materializing out of nowhere, gently guiding the students away. Ben was the only one that stayed. "Take the students back to the school. We'll deal with this", Ben instructed the guards. They nodded their heads obediently and marched toward the throng of students. The group watched as everyone ambled away, back to their lives, free of any stressful drama. Each one in the group almost envied them. They all turned back to the body on the ground, not sure what to do while it was in this state. They certainly couldn't carry her after seeing what had happened to that guard. Mal sure as hell wasn't taking off the bracelet. She had _finally_ caught her kidnapper. Sure it was only after a day of being awake, but _still_ , she refused to take the risk of the Spell Thief escaping their clutches.

She hunched over the unconscious form on the ground and carefully reached out her hand. "Careful Mal", Ben warned. She gave him a reassuring nod before continuing her task. She continued reaching out her hand until she could feel the protective magic preparing itself once more. That's when she stopped reaching. Mal kept her hand there for quite some time, trying to get a feel for how much power was surrounding her, and how much power a counter-spell would require. Too much it would seem, judging from the amount of power radiating from the body.

That was another thing, _no one_ should have this much power. Not like they shouldn't because it's dangerous (okay it _was_ dangerous, but that's not the point), but more like, it was _impossible_ to have this much power at this age. The only explanation would be that the Spell Thief didn't use her magic often, which could cause magical build-up, which made it more difficult to control one's powers, and even if they could, they'd have to have an extreme amount of focus. The more that Mal was learning about the Spell Thief, the more wary that she grew. Was it even a good idea that they were taking her into custody? Someone with her amount of power could break out of it easily.

It made Mal wonder whether or not this bracelet would hold its magic, but then she quickly reminded herself that it still held. She had to remain _somewhat_ positive, right? Sure the Spell Thief was powerful, but not as powerful as Mal thought. She found herself reaching toward the Spell Thief again, focusing on countering the power that surrounded the body. However this time, it appeared that the closer Mal's hand got, the more it seemed to heat up. At the point which Mal's hand began to burn, it took her a few seconds to register what was happening before yanking back her hand and hissing in pain. There were no visible burns, other than Mal's hand being slightly red. She tried again, harder this time. She focused solely on fighting the protective magic, but the attempt ended up yielding the same result, only this time, Mal's hand began to show blisters. Once again, she clutched her hand, hissing in pain. "Okay, enough", she heard Ben command.

"Mal, no more. You'll hurt yourself", Ben whispered to her, gently wrapping his hands around hers. Okay, now Mal was getting frustrated. _Even_ when this person was completely asleep, she still held all the cards. Uuggghh, that simple fact fanned the flames of her fury even more. _How_ long would the Spell Thief be one step ahead of them? She looked back at the Spell Thief and flicked Ben's hands away, too frustrated to focus on anything. "Uuggghh, why isn't it working?", Mal vented, stalking over to Evie's side.

"I tried to counter the magic, but it's almost like it's resisting me. It's too powerful. _Now_ what are we gonna do?", Mal vented some more, at a loss for ideas.

"Did you say that it was _resisting_ you?", Jay asked, not in an incredulous way, more like a curious way.

"Yeah. So what?", Mal snapped. Jay bit his lip contemplatively, looking at the body. "It's a protective spell, just like you said, right? So the magic sees you as a threat. Obviously it's going to fight back if it feels that its sire is being threatened", Jay pondered. Mal took a moment to consider that perspective. Obviously, the spell saw everything as a threat, so how were they going to counter it? Mal thought a bit more on it. If it saw something as a threat, of course it was going to push back, but something didn't seem right with that theory. If the spell saw her as a threat, then why wasn't she blasted across the forest upon getting within a 2-foot radius of this chick like that guard? Maybe the spell saw her as less of a threat. ' _Most likely because the guards wanted to harm her for being a threat to national security_ ', she thought snidely. Wait a minute, that was it. Of course!

"Jay, that's it! You're a genius!", Mal nearly squealed excitedly, to elated with this breakthrough to question how Jay had come up with that theory. He had never really been the idea maker of the group, but at that moment, Mal didn't seem to notice. "The protective spell won't work on someone who means her absolutely _no_ harm", Mal concluded, but that was going to be tough. The student body of Auradon Prep was probably half way back to the school, and they couldn't have anyone asking any questions about any of this.

This left just one question. Who out of their group meant her complete, absolute, zero-percent harm? Fairy Godmother? Maybe, but with her strange behavior of late, Mal wasn't so sure. It couldn't be her or Evie, she _had_ kidnapped them both. It couldn't be Ben either, for obvious reasons. Carlos? Maybe. He didn't have a score to settle with this chick, but he _did_ seem a bit wary toward the Spell Thief. That left Jay. Come to think of it, Jay hadn't torn his eyes away from the Spell Thief the entire time, and the way that he had reacted to seeing the body on the ground was still fresh on her mind. Mal bit her lip contemplatively. She wasn't a hundred percent sure that this would work, but if anyone else had a better idea, she was all ears.

"Jay, would you care to do the honors?", Carlos piped up, patting Jay on the back.

"Why me?", Jay asked defensively, though something told Mal that he was secretly relieved.

"Because out of all of us, you're the closest to her. It makes sense actually", Fairy Godmother said, verbally reiterating Mal's thoughts.

"Alright", Jay shrugged nonchalantly, trying to seem indifferent, but Mal's gut told her that Jay was putting on his poker face, or at least trying to. Once again she recalled his reaction at seeing the body. She'd never seen him act anything like that towards anyone, which told Mal that this person was more important to Jay than he was letting on. She decided to let the matter rest for now as she watched Jay inch cautiously closer to the body. He tentatively reached out his hand and pulled back, then let it advance more and more slowly until his hand found its way under her neck. He quickly retracted it and then, seeing that the spell wasn't going to barbecue him or break him into little tiny pieces, began the slide his arms under her shoulders and knees, picking her up bridal-style. A satchel hung from the body. As the Spell Thief hung from Jay's arms, he seemed to relax just a bit more. Seriously, _what_ was going on with him?

"What's in the bag?", Carlos asked, walking up to the Spell Thief and carefully sliding the satchel off of the body and eyeing it inquisitively.

"We'll figure that out later. Let's take her to Castle Beast. There should be a cell open in the dungeon", Fairy Godmother instructed, her posture uncharacteristically rigid. Forget just Jay, what was going on with _everyone_? About ten minutes later, a car came to fetch all of them, and on the drive back, time seemed to blur all together for Mal. The silence in the car was deafening as they drove back to the castle, waiting to determine the fate of the stranger that dared to steal from them.

* * *

As they were guided back to the school, Aziz walked in silence within his group of friends. While Casey was making an epic tale out of today's events, his antics had been tuned out by Aziz's ever-nagging thoughts. By the time that the student body of Auradon had reached the scene of the incident, this person dressed in all-black, whom everyone could only assume was the Spell Thief, was knocked out cold and lying spread-eagled next to Mal, and no one knew what had occurred in the events that led to that particular scene.

This whole situation made zero sense to him. Being the son of Aladdin, he knew a thing or two about these kinds of things. First of all, _why_ the hell would you try and kidnap somebody in broad daylight _looking_ like a thief? He thought that the Spell Thief would at least _try_ and blend in. _Any_ good thief would know that. And another thing, when the Spell Thief ran, it was subtle, but it looked like they were slowing down, looking for things to trip over in purpose. Why would they do that, unless…

Unless they _wanted_ to get caught.

* * *

"It's been what, three weeks and she _still_ hasn't said anything?", Mal asked incredulously, groaning in frustration on the pink velvet chaise lounge in Fairy Godmother's office. Evie sat next to her, her lips pouting in the same manner. Fairy Godmother had called in all of the VK's after school had ended that day. Auradon Prep was in a bit of a panic at the moment and more than once in the last few weeks, it had fallen to Fairy Godmother to calm the masses.

"She won't speak to any of the interrogators that have gone down to see her. _Nothing_ they do has sparked a response from her", answered Fairy Godmother. The Spell Thief hadn't uttered so much as a peep since she'd been brought in. You'd think that once Mal took off the bracelet and the Spell Thief woke up, she'd be feeling a bit more talkative. Jay hadn't been allowed to see her, as it would be a "conflict of interest", given his history with her. He couldn't say anything on the issue without looking like a conflict of interest.

This whole thing was killing him. Amara was down there, and who knows what those interrogators were doing to try and get her to talk? They could be torturing her for all that Jay knew. He quickly shook those thoughts out of his head. They would only serve to make him even more agitated than he already was, and he honestly didn't think that _now_ was a good time to explain to his friends that he _may_ be turning into a snake.

"Why don't _we_ talk to her?", suggested Carlos. "We could ask her what the heck is _in_ this thing", he said sarcastically, gesturing to the satchel that they had taken off of her. All of their efforts to open it had been fruitless, but what baffled them was that there didn't appear to be any visible lock on it.

"Actually Carlos, that _might_ not be a bad idea", Mal contemplated, her fist drumming against her chin, her eyebrows scrunched with focus. " _Us_ talking to her, I mean".

Finally! Someone had said it. Jay had been struggling to control himself the last few weeks. When that guard was bending down to pick up Amara, there was some small, foreign part of him that wanted to rip the guy's head off, but why? He hadn't seen the girl in six years, and then out of the blue she shows up and asks him to help her orchestrate her capture. Was his turning into a snake creature thing throwing his brain out of whack? He knew he shouldn't get bent out of shape about this whole thing. Amara was way more than capable of handling herself, but no matter how much effort he put in trying not to think about her, it was all for naught.

* * *

"Alright, if there's any trouble, I'm only a phone call away", Fairy Godmother promised, while her telltale smile was absent, her eyes held their usual warmth. It was very reassuring to the group, except of course, Jay. They had arrived at Castle Beast not half an hour ago. Ben wouldn't be accompanying them as his royal kingly duties had demanded his attention at that moment. The whole ride there, Jay could not get her out of his mind, how she was holed up in there. Given there haven't been any reports yet, he assumed that she was still in the dungeon, choosing not to escape just yet.

The steps of the group echoed as they were led down the dark, dank corridors of the dungeon. The tension with the group was so thick that it would've had to have been cut with a pair of garden shears. Jay's fists clenched as he struggled to keep his emotions in check. He carried a canteen of water while Mal and Evie carried food and Carlos carried the Spell Thief's satchel.

None of them knew what to expect as their footsteps echoed down the hall, least of all Mal. On one hand, she was angry. Of course, being kidnapped and having their spell book stolen did tend to tick a person off a little bit. On the other hand, Mal was curious. Why? Why go through the trouble of kidnapping not just her, but Evie as well? Why not just take the spell book and run off? Why not just leave them there? That was what she wanted to know. Maybe by some freak miracle of nature, the Spell Thief would decide to talk to them. Maybe that was what she wanted all along.

It was after maybe ten minutes of deafening silence that they finally reached the desired cell. It housed a hunched over form dressed in all black, hood draped over her head as if she were a faceless phantom. The guard banged on the cage a few times, and no even so much as a flinch came from the Spell Thief. "Hey, you got visitors", the guard barked at her. Jay clenched his fists at the sound. For one thing, his newfound super hearing had decided to flare up right at that moment, and it made him angry to see him treat her that way. "You sure you don't want any back up?", the guard asked.

"We're sure", Jay responded immediately, almost interrupting. Mal gave Jay a look of confusion. Why does he want the guard to leave? Why doesn't he want guards with them? Did he actually think that he could _trust_ the Spell Thief? Who knows what was cooking in that chick's head right now? For all Mal knew, when the Spell Thief escaped, because let's face it, it was only a matter of time before she did, she would take her vengeance out on Jay first since he had betrayed her, or so Mal thought.

Reluctantly, the guard left, and the group was finally alone with the one that had plagued their thoughts for nearly the past month. The group stared in the direction the guard went. When the sound of a dungeon door closing could finally, a voice piped up. "My god, I thought he'd _never_ leave", the voice uttered wryly. It sounded a bit low and raspy, followed by the sounds of throat-clearing. The group immediately faced the cage, and there the Spell Thief was, her slender frame leaned up against the wall, her posture rugged, yet confident. "Forgive my voice. I haven't spoken in a few weeks, I'm sure you understand", she said, her tone almost qualifying as condescending.

She began to walk toward the front of the cage, the soles of her shoes rubbing against the rock floor. She wrapped one fingerless-gloved hand around a bar of her cage, her other hand resting on her hip. Her dark eyes had subtle reddish-brown tint to them and were the only things visible among her form-fitting ensemble of dark clothing. She almost looked like a vigilante from a comic book. Jay held out the canteen of water to her. She took it without hesitation. "Thanks", she muttered, downing it in a few gulps.

The group stared her down in an attempt to intimidate her, all except for Jay, of course. While she didn't seem fazed by the action, she appeared to get the message being conveyed. "I guess we should cut the small talk then", the Spell Thief stated. For once, Mal agreed with her. Following her statement, she had reached into the shadows of her hood and appeared to pull a cloth down. She wrapped both hands around the size of her hood, and an audible gasp could be heard from everyone in the group.

Whether the reason was that they were shocked at seeing her face for the very first time, or the fact that she wasn't deformed in any way, they were astonished. If she had supposedly come from the Isle like Jay said, then why had she covered her face if she wasn't hideously deformed in some form or fashion? Not to mention that they'd always pictured a faceless phantom in a hood when the Spell Thief came to mind, now they could finally put a face to a name, or an alias in this case. The girl's wavy, slightly frizzy dark hair was tied in a low messy bun, a few baby hairs framing her face, which was the same caramel skin tone as Jay's, longer than it was wide and heart-shaped, which was made noticeable by the amused, lopsided grin that caused one of her cheeks to perk up.

"Am I that hideous?", she asked, her grin matching her amused tone.

"No. You're actually a lot prettier than Jay let on", Carlos commented, which earned him an elbow in the side from Jay and a glare from Mal, who tried to keep her cool even though she found it funny. Evie was the only one who was visibly amused by this comment, her lips scrunched in a smile to keep from giggling. Leave it to VK's to make a joke out of possible threats to national security.

"Is that so?", the girl asked, her grin now a full on smile.

"What Carlos is _trying_ to say is that you're different than what we expected, but now it's time to talk", Mal asserted, focusing back on the task on hand. The girl nodded in agreement. "I completely agree, but you should know a few things first", she conceded. Her gaze had focused briefly on something else before snapping back to Mal. "And that would be…", Mal trailed off purposefully so that the girl could finish the sentence.

"First, kidnapping you and Evie wasn't part of the plan. I never intended for it to come to that".

"Wait a second, how did you-", Mal began to ask.

"I'll explain everything later", the girl promised, cutting her off. "Second, I needed to get into the castle without suspicion. I needed to talk to you, all of you".

"Wait, what are even you talking about?", Mal questioned. The girl's gaze shifted again, and this time Mal followed it. It was directed at Jay. Looking between the two of them, they exchanged a knowing look with one another, as if conveying a secret that only the two of them shared. "What are you two not telling us?".

"Lots of things, but as of right now, you're on a need-to-know basis", the girl answered honestly. "And you need to know that-"

"That you and Jay orchestrated this whole thing, which I'm also assuming was all your idea?", Carlos guessed.

The girl's eyes became wide, mouth hung open in pure astonishment. To Mal, her expression was priceless. She _so_ wished she had a camera right now. And the fact that she even had that expression proved Carlos right. On one hand, Mal became even more frustrated because once again, this chick was one step ahead, but on the other hand, she was actually pretty impressed. Orchestrating your own arrest and fooling a few VK's in the process? Lady Tremaine would've commended her in Evil Schemes class back at Dragon Hall.

"Yeah, that about sums it up", she said, her face still star-struck, probably surprised at how Carlos had figured it out so quickly. Hell, even Mal was a bit surprised. The feeling was immediately followed by the sting of betrayal. "So much for the circle of trust", Mal muttered, crossing her arms and shielding herself from Jay's apologetic gaze.

"Hey, if you're going to be angry at someone, it should be at me. I get that you're already plenty angry with me and maybe feeling betrayed, but Jay is one of the most trustworthy people I know. None of this was his fault, so don't condemn him for something that was entirely my doing", the girl said in a defensive, almost threatening tone. Everyone in the group faced her after the words had left her mouth. To say the least, they were surprised, intrigued even, at this girl who sat behind bars, trapped in a cage, and yet she was defending someone who, in a way, help put her there. Sure it was all a product of orchestration, but nevertheless, it captivated them. They were having a harder time believing that she came from the Isle.

"But why even go through the trouble?", asked Evie, who hadn't said a word the whole time they were there.

"So it minimizes the chances of our conversation being monitored. This place seemed like a secure location, but obviously I needed a legitimate reason for being in here and you guys definitely needed a legitimate reason to be in here also, right? And besides, this dungeon hasn't been renovated since the Dark Ages it looks like, so no security cameras", she explained. The group nodded in understanding. Dang, this chick was _smart_.

"Is there anything else you wanted to ask me, or do you all have the Spanish Inquisition out of your system?", the girl inquired indifferently. From the back of the group, Carlos emerged, holding up the satchel that he had taken off of her. When she reached for it, he pulled it back out of her reach. "Not so fast. What's in this thing?", asked Carlos. The girl simply held out her hand and gestured to the satchel. Carlos eyed her warily. "If you let me, I can show you. I'm the only one who can open it, after all", the girl stated matter-of-factly.

Carlos extended his arm with the satchel in hand dubiously until his arm was fully extended. The girl's long fingers grasped the satchel and pulled it into the cell with her. She undid the clasp of it and reached in, the sound of her fingertips tapping against a hard surface. Mal's heartbeat began to speed up. Could it be? No, it wasn't possible. She abruptly shook the false hope that threatened to plant itself within her. There was no way that the girl would've brought it with her. She heard something sliding out of the bag, and a rectangular leather object was pulled out of it. The girl dropped the satchel and held the object up to Mal. The object was definitely a book and had a familiar gold dragon insignia on the front of it. "My spell book", Mal whispered.

"I'm sorry for the trouble I caused. I never meant for that to happen. I took it because I thought it could help me stop what's coming, but nothing was in there", the girl admitted. For the time being, Mal wouldn't mention the fact that this girl had choked her, because this girl standing before her appeared to be nothing like that. Now Mal was super confused. This girl was just giving her spell book back and _apologizing_ for stealing it in the first place? Mal kept waiting for a pig with wings to crash through the walls at any moment. _That_ would've made more sense than what was going on right now. She was sure that this chick had another agenda, but in the girl's eyes, Mal could see nothing but sincerity. She reached out to take it, but the second that she clasped it with her hand, that was the moment she fell into darkness.


	8. Visions and Admissions

**Chapter 7**

"Oh my god, Mal!", they all yelled as soon as the two girls collapsed onto the ground. Carlos and Jay immediately went to Mal and Amara, feeling their necks for a pulse, at least they would've done that had their hands not been burned as soon as they came into contact with Mal's skin. They clutched their hands, hissing in pain. Jay felt something happen to his throat when he did, like his vocal cords were elongating, the sound emitted from him sounding dangerously close to the hiss of a snake. He hoped to God that the others hadn't noticed. Thankfully they were focused on the two unconscious girls and what had just happened.

"Are you kidding me? That stupid protection spell _again_?" Carlos ranted, grunting at his blistered hand. Evie gently held his hand and examined his palm, while Jay stared at his own. The angry red patch of blistered skin reflected his mood, and it took everything in him to keep himself from shouting in rage. Why was the spell repelling _him_ now? He'd never harm Amara, and if anyone even thought about doing it, he would personally make sure that they regretted the day they were ever born. ' _Wait, where did that come from? Gaahh! Stupid snake mojo!_ ', he thought to himself. A prickling sensation originating in his palm jolted him out of his thoughts. He nearly yelped in surprise at what he saw.

The blisters that had plagued his palm not a minute before had now looked like they had undergone weeks of healing, and continued to progress as even _those_ were nothing but a memory. His skin was knitting back together, _healing_ itself. Now, his palm was brand new, not a blister in sight, as if it never happened. At least _one_ good thing had come out of this whole becoming-a-snake thing.

After she had determined that Carlos's hand was definitely in need of attention, Evie told him to call Fairy Godmother. She turned back to Mal and bent down, getting as close to Mal as she could without risking the repercussions of the spell surrounding the girls, but suddenly, Evie wasn't worried about that anymore. She didn't know how to explain it, but she suddenly felt herself gravitating toward the spell book still locked in the girl's lifeless hands. It seemed to call to her, no, it was _urging_ her to join the girls in their journey. Before she knew what she was doing, her hand was already on the book, and just like the girls before her, she was plunged into darkness.

* * *

 _The girls were all greeted by the sight of the Isle, a sense of familiarity coming over all of them as they took in the grungy scenery. What? How did they get to the Isle of the Lost? Did the book transport them there? Could a book even_ do _that? Mal and Evie were quickly jolted out of their thoughts by the sight of Maleficent, strutting through the square as any self-proclaimed Ruler of the Isle would. There appeared to be someone following behind her, a little girl it looked like._

 _The little girl had a familiar mop of purple locks and some baby fat remained in her cheeks, as though the struggles of life had not yet tainted her innocence. Bright green eyes stared up at the Mistress of Evil in awe as they walked through the square. A goblin bumped into them and had dropped all of his things. Mal shuddered as the realization came over her. They weren't on the Isle of the Lost, they were in her_ memory _. She watched it play out. She began to shiver as Maleficent's voice boomed over the little girl, shrouding her in fear, all because she had chosen to help that goblin pick up his things. This day had been seared into Mal's memory, and no matter how hard she tried to forget it, it would always be there. Maleficent continued to shout at the little girl, telling her that no daughter of hers would show kindness to another, that she was going to end up weak, just like her father. Then unexpectedly, the scenery flashed._

 _All of a sudden, they were standing in the middle of a bazaar filled with little children and villains alike. The night sky was dimly lit by oil lamps along the streets, giving just the right ambience for the occasion, and in the middle of it all sat a little girl on an unsteady throne with familiar navy hair. The party's gothic splendor and sumptuousness struck the cords of Evie's memory. This was her sixth birthday party. Everything was exactly as she remembered. The pile of presents, the sour apple cake, even Captain Hook sticking his head into a taxidermed alligator's head to make her laugh. But then came the thundering voice of none other than Maleficent, booming from the balcony she stood from. She dispersed the party with her threats and cast Evie and her mother out, banishing them to the far side of the Isle. Why was this happening? What was going on?_

 _The scene flashed once more, but this time was day time. They were in the middle of the woods and were greeted by the sight of two children who both looked to be about maybe ten years old. There was a familiar looking boy with a mop of shaggy dark hair and caramel skin. The other child was covered in black, a hood hanging from the nape of her neck, and immediately they knew that this was the Spell Thief's memory. 'This chick seriously needs to update her wardrobe', Evie thought to herself as she watched the children. The children ran together, laughing and happy as they could be. The girl's hair was long and glossy, flowing with her movements as she ran. She stopped at a murky lake that looked to be deep in the woods on the Isle of the Lost. "I win", said the girl, a satisfied smirk on her face. "No fair, you got a head start", the boy whined._

" _Well, it's not my fault that you couldn't keep up", the girl teased. The boy scrunched his face in annoyance before it melted into a smirk of pure mischief, the look that a child gets when they're up to no good. The boy cupped his hands in the water, and two seconds later, he flung it in his companion's face. Startled, the girl jumped back and gasped, staring at the boy with a shocked face, which two seconds later melted into a wolfish grin. "Oh, it's on", she challenged, her voice low. "You'll have to catch me first", the boy sneered playfully. "I shouldn't have any problem with that", the girl shot back, splashing the boy in the face. The skirmish had grown into an all-out splash war, leaving the children sopping wet by the time they were finished._

 _The children clutched their stomachs as the laughter overtook them. Eventually they fell back onto the dry land, shaking with laughter, but the sounds of stomping and twigs snapping in the distance interrupted the children's fun. The young Spell Thief's head snapped up at the sound, her hair instantly being tucked into her hood. Immediately, the hood was yanked over her head. "What's wrong?", asked the boy, concern in his dark eyes. "I- I heard voices. I better go", she said, pulling up her face cloth. The boy looked disappointed, almost sad even. She turned toward the boy and walked over to him. "Same time tomorrow?", she asked hopefully. And once again, the scene flashed._

 _This time, the children merely sat together, staring out at the horizon. The hood was over the younger Spell Thief's head, but the face cloth remained unused. Wisps of her hair hung out and were blown by the light breeze. "Jay, there's something I need to tell you", said the girl._

 _So the boy was_ Jay _? Well,_ this _just got interesting. Young Jay turned to face his companion, concern making his features age just a few years. This only served to fuel Mal and Evie's bafflement. This was the Isle of the Lost for crying out loud! Villains didn't teach their kids kindness or empathy or anything of the sort. They were taught to lie, to steal, to be the worst people that they could ever hope to imagine. Surely the Young Spell Thief knew this, so why was she trusting Jay? And seeing as she hadn't ever been caught by Mal's mother, Jay must've kept her secret, but since when did Jay become trustworthy_ before _he chose good,_ before _he came to Auradon? Young Jay scooted closer to his companion, his eyes searching for hers. "What is it, Shadow?", he asked softly._

 _Shadow? As in Shadow Thief? WHAAAAAT?! As soon as the realization hit them, everything clicked into place. Sure Jay had told them about the Spell Thief on the Isle, but he just told them the overall gist, not the details, like the important little detail that this chick was the freaking_ Shadow Thief _! "Did you have another vision?", Young Jay asked Shadow. She nodded her head solemnly, which made him furrow his brow further. His gaze dropped, almost as if he knew what was coming next. "What did you see? What did it tell you?", Jay asked. Shadow's gaze dropped as well, but the girls could see one single tear roll down her cheek. Mal and Evie looked back at older Shadow, her eyes glassy with unshed tears as she watched the memory play out._

 _The scene was followed by the telltale flash and suddenly they were standing at the Goblin Wharf, and it was almost dark out. Jay and Shadow hid behind a warehouse wall, close enough to a boat to escape, but far enough so they could also be hidden. "I-, I can't go with you", Jay said to Young Shadow, almost apologetically. She nodded in understanding. "It's okay. I- I understand". Her voice was soft and quiet, as if trying to mask the hurt. She turned to look at the boat, then back to Jay. She bit her lip, as if trying to think of the perfect parting words, but as soon as she looked up at him again, she ran to him. She wrapped her arms around his torso, squeezing tightly. Young Jay tensed at the action, which was understandable. They had never been given hugs or received any type of affection like that from their parents, but Young Shadow didn't seem to notice. After a few seconds, Jay returned her fierce embrace._

 _His skinny arms slid around her shoulders. Mal and Evie had never seen Jay clutch anything so tight. "I'm gonna miss you Jay", Shadow whispered, her voice almost sounding brittle. Upon hearing that, Jay's arms tightened even more around Shadow. "You don't have to go", he whispered. "Yeah I do", Shadow replied. Ever-so-slowly, the children pulled away from each other. Mal and Evie were almost tearing up at the scene before them. Here was Jay's only friend, possibly the only person that truly cared for him on the Isle, a place void of love and compassion, and she was leaving him. "Well, I- I guess this is goodbye then", Jay whispered, his gaze dropping so that Shadow wouldn't see the pain in his eyes. He turned around and began to leave, as if he couldn't bear to see her walk away._

" _Jay, wait. One more thing", said Shadow. Immediately, Young Jay whipped his head around, hope glittering in his dark eyes. Shadow closed the distance between them in long strides. Before Jay knew what was going on, Young Shadow had planted a soft kiss on his cheek. Mal and Evie looked at older Shadow to gauge her reaction. Sure enough, a blush creeped onto the older Shadow's cheeks. Had the circumstances been different, they almost would've teased her about it. They faced the scene once more and saw that the cheek kiss had ended. Young Shadow's lips hovered mere centimeters away from Jay's ear as she whispered to him her parting words._

" _My name's Amara"._

* * *

Amara woke up to the sound of her own gasping and the same sound being emitted from either side of her. It took her a few seconds to register her surroundings. She lay in what felt like a cot. Once her vision cleared up, she could see that the ceiling was high and arched with a few stained glass windows on the walls. It appeared as though she were in a castle. She instantly shot up and clutched her throbbing head. What _happened_? Where even _was_ she? When she looked around, she found nurses walking about, carrying around supplies and rolling around IV's and various fluids. What? What the heck was she doing in a hospital, and why did said hospital look like something out of Hogwarts? "Uugghh, my head", she heard Mal's voice grumble. She looked to her right, and sure enough, Mal was sitting on the cot next to her. Amara looked to her left, and just as she suspected, there sat Evie, who was clutching her head in a similar manner as the other two girls.

The sound of an opening door echoed as a woman stepped through the entrance to the hospital, followed by three boys. The staccato steps of their shoes echoed as they made their way over to the girls. They were the same boys that she saw in the woods. She recognized Jay and the white-haired boy, Carlos was his name, wasn't it? The Auradonians, however, were unfamiliar to her. The boy that had brown hair with golden highlights sat next to Mal, brushing his knuckles along her arm gently. That must've been the boy who carried her. The sight sent a pang of guilt into her chest before she shook it off and focused on what was around her. The boy with the white hair sat on Evie's cot next to her knees, close enough to be caring, but not so close as Mal and the other boy. His left hand was wrapped in a bandage.

Jay sat at the foot of Amara's cot, his dark eyes giving away nothing and everything all at the same time, and his toned arms were crossed in an indifferent gesture. He wore his usual leather vest, fingerless gloves, jeans and combat boots, but no beanie, which let his long hair fall and cascade perfectly down his chest. Her heart began to beat faster and faster with every second his smoldering gaze was fixed on her. Amara almost couldn't tear her eyes away from the handsome boy, almost couldn't believe that _this_ was the boy with whom she spent months running through the forest, having races and splash fights and getting to being an actual kid, all the while preparing for her escape.

"Hello girls. How are you feeling?", the women asked with concern in her voice, jolting Amara out of her trance. The heels, dress and cardigan that the woman wore were all the same shade of periwinkle, a bright magenta bow adorning the middle of her chest. Her chocolate brown hair was pulled back in a bun and matched the shade of her eyes that were filled with warmth, regardless of the emotions of their owner. The woman seemed familiar to Amara, but she was positive that she'd never seen this woman before. Amara had never been this close to the heart of Auradon before all this had been started. "We're fine Fairy Godmother", Evie said reassuringly, which seemed to put the woman at ease. Wait, Fairy Godmother? _The_ Fairy Godmother? "Yeah, other than our heads feeling like they got stampeded on by elephants", Mal muttered.

The woman nodded at Evie and her warm eyes fell on Amara, concern filling them, but why? What had _she_ done to earn worry from this woman? It wasn't as if they knew each other at all. "Are _you_ alright?", the Fairy Godmother asked her. Amara was at a loss for words. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get her voice to work. "What's your name?" she asked gently. Still, her voice wouldn't work. There was power in a name, and she didn't know if telling these people was the best option. "Amara", she heard Evie answer. The woman's eyes widened in shock, her body tensing for some unknown reason. Amara's head whipped around to the blue-haired girl, her neck clenching and her chest tightening in panic. "Who told you that?", Amara asked tightly.

"We heard it in the vision. You don't remember?", asked Mal, who was now sitting on the edge of her cot and facing her. The vision? What was she talking about? Suddenly the memories came flooding back, the falling unconscious, Maleficent screaming at her daughter, Evie's birthday, telling Jay goodbye, finally telling him her name, the one person that she trusted the most. They had _seen_ her memories, just as she had seen theirs. Out of habit she reached for her neck to pull up the cloth and cover her face, but to her astonishment, she felt nothing. What? Why wasn't it there? She quickly reached back to grab her hood, only to find that it was absent as well. There was nothing to cover herself with, and she couldn't stop the shivers that racked her body. She clenched her muscles to try and keep still. Jay's eyes softened as if noticing her unease, his arms unfolding. ' _It's okay_ ', he mouthed. Just that little action, his presence for that matter, was enough to put her at ease.

"It's alright, you're not in trouble", Fairy Godmother reassured her, a warm smile brightening her features. So Amara didn't look as calm and collected as she hoped.

"She's not?", Evie and Mal asked in unison. Fairy Godmother shook her head.

"Ben?", Mal asked. The boy that sat at her cot shrugged. Wait, _that_ was Ben? As in King Benjamin of Auradon? Well, _this_ just keeps getting better and better. Ben stood up and walked to the foot of her bed.

"Yes. We've decided to give Amara" he gestured to her, "a proposition", Ben answered truthfully.

* * *

Jay and Carlos had told Ben and Fairy Godmother everything that had happened down to the last detail. What they did, what the Spell Thief did, what had been said, and finally, the falling unconscious part. The strange thing though, was that after Evie had fallen unconscious thanks to the spell book, the protective spell seemed to dissolve into nothing, Fairy Godmother made sure of it. After the girls had been taken to the Hospital Wing of Castle Beast, Ben had wanted to speak with Fairy Godmother alone. They both agreed that they couldn't just let the girl leave, they at least had to know _why_ she stole Mal's spell book, but the crazy thing, to them, was that she even brought it back and then _apologized_ for stealing it, and then had revealed that Mal and Evie weren't even supposed to be kidnapped in the first place. ' _What the crap?_ ', Ben thought to himself for the umpteenth time. Now here he was, standing at the foot of the bed of his girlfriend's kidnapper. Her body said that she was calm, cool, and collected, but her eyes were alert and on guard, as if she were ready to spring up and bolt out of there should the need arise.

She didn't think she was going to get a second chance, that there was no way that she was going to be let off the hook for kidnapping his girlfriend, and to be honest he was actually considering that, but her actions in the dungeon pushed Ben to think that maybe she wasn't all bad. Maybe she hadn't been shown a lot of kindness in her life. If what Jay had told him was true, about her coming from the Isle, then Ben knew what he had to do.

"We've decided to give Amara", he gestured to her "a proposition".

"All she needs to do is answer a few questions", finished Fairy Godmother. Amara gave them a skeptical stare, the cot creaking as she got up from it. She stopped in front of Fairy Godmother and Ben, and then crossed her arms as a defense mechanism. "Okay, I'll play 20 questions", she said, a nearly imperceptible challenge within her words.

Ben was almost surprised that she was cooperating, almost. "Good. First things first. How old are you?" asked Ben. Amara cocked her head in confusion, one eyebrow raised.

"I would say roughly about 16 years old", she answered.

"Roughly?", asked Fairy Godmother.

"I don't know my actual birthday, so come New Year's Day, I turn another year older", she explained. Everyone's eyes were on her at that point. Had Jay not been there, it would've made her extremely nervous and anxious. Granted, she already felt like a bug under a microscope, but at least Jay made it bearable.

"When did you first get off of the Isle?", Ben asked.

"When I was 10 years old, but I'm sure Jay already told you about that. And I'm also guessing that he told you about how we met and all of that", she said. Ben noticed that it wasn't said with malice, just merely stating a fact.

"He told us that you two met on the Isle and that he helped you escape, that's about it", Ben conceded. Amara nodded in contemplation. "But I'm curious to know if you were even born on the Isle in the first place", Ben mused.

"Is that supposed to be a question, Highness?", Amara asked nonchalantly.

"And if it is? I mean, from what I've heard happened in the dungeon, I'm not so sure you _do_ come from the Isle" Ben shot back. Amara laughed/exhaled at his answer. It almost appeared to Ben that she was impressed.

"If you want my honest answer, the truth is that I have absolutely no idea, but either way, it's obvious that my parents wanted nothing to do with me", she said.

"Well, who are your parents?", asked a confused Fairy Godmother.

"I don't know. I'm not really sure what awful, deadly sin they committed to earn themselves a spot in the Isle of the Lost or they even _did_ end up on the Isle of the Lost", she answered, without missing a single beat. Everyone now stared as if she had grown a second head. "What?", she asked, growing anxious as the eyes bore into her. Even Ben was shocked. "You- you don't know who your parents are? But then how did you survive on the Isle? Who did you even-" Ben couldn't even finish his sentence, he was so astonished. He couldn't _imagine_ , couldn't even begin to _comprehend_ not knowing his parents.

Noting their expressions, Amara pressed on. "It's not like it's a sob story or anything. That's just the way it is. I was found on the street as a newborn and Jafar took me in, or so he told me", she went on nonchalantly.

"Wait. My _father_ took you in?", Jay asked incredulously. Amara nodded, and the expression on Jay's face seemed troubled. How had he not known that she was there that entire time? Her eyes softened at seeing Jay. She took a seat next to him on the cot.

"I- I was kind of the reason you weren't allowed to go in the attic", she admitted sheepishly. He nodded in understanding, his stone-like expression coming back.

"Well, that explains a lot", he said nonchalantly.

Amara stood up again, facing Ben and Fairy Godmother. "It's true. Jafar kept me in the attic of his shop, and when I was 6, I finally got out of there. Escaped to the woods and lived there 'till I escaped the Isle. Lived in the woods of Auradon ever since", Amara shrugged.

Ben hadn't even asked a question about that. Hearing her tell them all of this as if it were merely just a normal thing, and the way that she had looked at Jay with emotion for just a brief moment, told Ben all he needed to know. He knew that there was more to this girl than met the eye, he knew that she hadn't been entirely swayed by evil ways, which confirmed to Ben that she wasn't bad, she just did the things she did out of survival and for her own reasons, which Ben figured would reveal themselves when the time came. Looking at the girl standing in front of him with a determined expression, her eyes saying that she wasn't going down without a fight, he had made his decision.

"Anything else, Highness?", Amara asked.

"Yes, there _is_ one last question", Ben answered, earning him a curious look from the girl.

"Shoot", she said. Jay turned towards Ben, his arms unfolding once more and his hands in his lap, curling into fists, as if daring him to punish Amara. Ben decided to pretend he didn't see that.

"How would you feel", Ben had the nerve to pause for dramatic effect, "about attending Auradon Prep?".

* * *

When Jay heard that Amara had been locked in the attic of his father's shop for six years, he thought his anger was going to make him explode. He was able to calm down when she sat down in front of him, her voice placating him. He had to focus on the fact that she was here now, and it was all he could do to keep the scales and the snake eyes at bay. When Ben had asked her if she would like to attend Auradon Prep, he swore his heart skipped a few beats. Just knowing that there was even a _chance_ of truly having her back in his life again, it made him buzz with excitement just thinking about it.

"You'd let me come to school here, just like that?" Amara asked, her expression oozing skepticism. Jay had to bite down on his tongue to keep himself from shaking her back and forth and getting her to take the deal. ' _Don't question it Amara, please_ ', Jay thought to himself.

"Free of charge", Ben answered, nothing but sincerity in his eyes. Amara eyed him dubiously, her arms folded across her chest. Everyone anxiously awaited her answer, Jay most of all. His heart threatened to pound right out of his chest. He was almost terrified of her answer, terrified that she would say no. Knowing Amara, she'd do what it took to survive, but he also knew that she wasn't quick to trust. He knew that better than anyone. Her eyes gradually sunk down, staring at the floor in deep thought. She lifted her head up and she and Jay ended up locking eyes. She could've hid her anxiety from anyone else in the room, but not from him. He wanted so much to tell her that it was all going to be okay. He wanted to be the one to calm her down, he wanted to comfort her, but all of that would only look like a conflict of interest as Fairy Godmother had told him. ' _Conflict of interest, my ass_ ', Jay thought.

Okay, so maybe internally he was overreacting and maybe Fairy Godmother picked up on that, but what did she expect? This girl was the first person that ever truly cared about him, his first friend, the first person that he ever trusted. It wasn't easy letting her go the first time and now that she would be back in his life, Jay wasn't letting her get away, not again. "Do you want to think on it?", Ben asked. Her eyes held confusion in them, before she shook it out. His generosity appeared to disarm her, if only for a second. She shook her head, breaking herself out of the trance.

"Listen, I don't know what you've been through all your life, and I honestly don't know what you feel, but I know that being alone will eventually take its toll on you, am I right?", Ben asked gently. Though Amara's eyes softened, her arms still were crossed. She bit a microscopic portion of her lip, her eyes shifting down in contemplation. "What do you get out of it?", Amara asked, pointing her chin towards Ben. "Other than the satisfaction of helping you, nothing", Ben answered honestly. "You think I need to be helped?", Amara asked, clearly not impressed with what the King of Auradon was insinuating. Ben opened his mouth to say something, but Jay stood up and faced him, holding up his hand to cut him off. ' _I got this_ ', Jay mouthed to Ben, then turned to face Amara.

"Amara, can I talk to you for a minute?", Jay asked, his eyes practically drilling a hole into her. Jay could've sworn that he heard her breath hitch, if only for just a moment. "Okay", she agreed, following Jay into a secluded corner of the room that they were in. Jay could feel a seed of anxiety being planted into the pit of his stomach, but at the same time, for the first time in weeks, he felt at peace. The silence was broken when they finally sat beside each other on a cot.

* * *

Amara could feel her heartbeat growing faster as she and Jay sat beside each other. He was close enough to touch, and she was almost tempted to. She wouldn't dare though; she wouldn't let her feelings cloud her mind. "Jay, look I know what you're gonna say. And I-", she began.

"Amara, for once, could you hear me out, please?", he asked her gently. The pleading in his eyes was what silenced her.

"Why are you fighting? I mean, this is what you wanted, right? To get on the inside? You managed to do that", Jay reasoned.

"Yeah but it wasn't meant to go this far. It was just supposed to be me and you guys. The King and the Fairy Godmother weren't supposed to be part of the equation", Amara retorted.

"Just like kidnapping Mal and Evie wasn't supposed to happen, but you improvised. You changed your plan and you stuck to it and managed to make it out unscathed. Am I right?", Jay asked rhetorically. Amara nodded in agreement. "Look I know that being shown kindness must seem strange. Believe me that's how I felt when I first got here. It was so weird that everyone was being nice to each other just for the sake being nice. There was nothing to gain from it, except for a friend. This place taught me that people are capable of doing things out of the goodness of their heart", Jay explained.

"But I kidnapped two of _your_ friends, and not to mention one of them happened to be the King's girlfriend. I mean, who offers to enroll you in their school after you've kidnapped their girlfriend?", Amara asked incredulously. "Ben", Jay chuckled. Amara's lips began to curl in a small smile as her head began to droop bashfully. She felt warm fingertips slide under her chin and guide her face back up to meet a pair of dark eyes. Jay let his hand fall as soon as they faced each other again. "Look, you don't have to trust Ben's reasons right away. I didn't, but if won't trust him, then trust _me_. Trust me when I tell you that you're safe here, and we can help you. _I_ can help you", Jay said, his expression devoid of anything but sincerity.

To say the least, Amara was at a loss for words. Even after she had kidnapped his friends, even when the first she had asked of him after six years of being apart was to help her get arrested at the risk of being punished for possibly being an accessory to crime, he was still here, still willing to forgive her, still willing to stick by her after everything she had done. "Okay", Amara answered finally. Jay looked taken aback, as if he wasn't expecting her to say yes. "Okay to trusting me or okay to going to school at Auradon Prep?", Jay asked for confirmation.

"Both", Amara answered honestly. "It's the least I can do. I know it's been years, but even after all this time I still trust you", she admitted. Jay's mouth contorted into a knee-melting grin as he stood up, reaching out his hand to her. "Shall we go tell the others the good news?", Jay asked, his voice teasingly chivalrous. "Since when did you become such a gentlemen?", Amara teased as she took Jay's hand.

"Since Auradon brainwashed me", Jay shrugged, earning a giggle from Amara. He let his hand drop as soon as she stood up. She almost felt disappointed at not having Jay's hand enclose hers, but she quickly shook the feelings out. Together, they walked back to the rest of the group. Amara couldn't seem to calm her anxious thoughts. Questions like ' _What the hell are you doing Amara?!_ ' and ' _What the crap have you gotten yourself into?_ ' came from the part of her brain that her survival instincts resided in, but another part of her was surprisingly happy. For one thing, she wouldn't have to hide anymore.

She couldn't explain it, but some part of her felt that the time had come for her to emerge from the shadows. Plus, it was the perfect opportunity to gather all the information she needed on what Jafar might possibly be planning, anything about the Eclipse. But then there was Mal and Evie. They'd want to know everything about what they had seen with her, about her memories. The question is: Would she ever be ready to open up to them? Would she be ready to tell them what was to come, but then again, how could she tell them when she barely knew herself?


	9. Transition

**Hey you guys! Sorry about such a long wait. You'll be pleased to know that I have returned to the living and that I finally managed to get my parents list of chores done. I hope you guys enjoy this!**

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

Mal and Evie couldn't seem to calm their nerves as they watched Jay and Amara speak in the far off corner. Even without words, Mal and Evie both knew that they were thinking the same thing: She had to stay. Not just because of the unanswered questions that they had, but because of the way that Jay looked at her. Their thoughts traveled back to Amara's memory of leaving the Isle of the Lost, and they knew that the pain that they had seen in Jay's eyes when he thought that he'd never see her again would be forever seared into their mind. Amara _had_ to stay, not just for them, but for Jay. The Gods only know what would happen if she left him a second time. For Jay, they were willing to give her a chance.

Their nerves escalated as Amara and Jay returned to the group. "So, have you decided?", asked Ben, who stared at her with waiting eyes. "Well, I guess being brainwashed with Auradon do-gooderness worked out for this lot", she said nonchalantly, gesturing to the VK's "so why don't I give it a go?".

"Oh, ah- wonderful", Ben said incredulously, wonder sparkling in his eyes. He had been so sure that she'd say no, so sure that he'd be the one that would have to convince her. Whatever Jay had said must've worked. "You start next week. I can arrange a tour, show you around Auradon and the school. We can see the Cathedral and the Museum of Cultural History", Ben spouted off. "Nuh uh Ben, no way. She's not going anywhere, not 'till we do something about this", Evie declared, waving her hand around Amara's face and hair. Amara cocked her head to one side, raising her eyebrows in a ' _you better not try anything, chica_ ' face. "Girl, don't you give me that look. You know about as well as I do that your hair and your wardrobe need some _serious_ TLC", Evie stated.

Amara merely shrugged, being able to tell right away that she wasn't going to get out of being a guinea pig Barbie Doll. Mal's lips thinned as she tried to contain her laughter. "Okay, whatever", she said. "Excellent. First we need to do something about your hair", Evie said, beckoning her to follow. Amara did as the blue-haired girl asked. Evie practically yanked her arm as she dragged Amara off to her lair of beauty, a.k.a. her dorm room. "Mal, you coming?", asked Evie.

"You kidding? Heck yeah, I'm coming. I want to see what you have in store for this poor chap", Mal said as she flashed a wicked grin.

"Should I be worried?", Amara asked no one in particular.

"Relax. Evie doesn't bite. But she will put bright magenta lipstick on you if you let her", Carlos teased. Amara cocked her head to one side as she stared at him. "I hope not", she said, smiling at him.

* * *

"Alright, almost done. Aaaaand, done", Evie's voice stated with finality. Evie had made her get up on this a Saturday morning, _just_ to make her look pretty. Amara's eyes had been closed the entire process of Evie giving her a makeover, complete with her hair getting done and her makeup getting applied. They had spent the last week shopping at every store in Auradon City after school, getting clothes and makeup, all paid for by Evie and Mal's accumulating stash of money. Apparently selling custom-tailored clothes and magically doing people's hair raked in the bills. Who knew? Evie insisted on doing Amara's hair the old-fashioned way, with two hands and a pair of scissors, and she found that shopping for Amara was super-easy. All Amara had requested was not to make her look like a 'prissy, preppy, dainty pink cupcake princess'. They found that they got along with her easily, surprisingly enough. She appeared to have a lot of the same mannerisms they did.

"Ready to see?", Evie asked.

"Do I have a choice?", asked Amara teasingly.

"Nope", Evie shot back sweetly, her bubbly giggles following suit. "Now, open your eyes", Evie said as she spun Amara around to face the mirror. Amara let out a shocked gasp at what she saw. The girl that stared back at her in the mirror couldn't possibly be her. This girl's hair ended at her waist and was long and glossy, hanging in loose, obsidian curls. Her eyebrows were a bit sore from having been tweezed. All they needed was a little bit of thinning down and shaping, not too much. A pigmented bronze shadow was barely swept across her eyelids, not too heavy since it was supposed to be an everyday look. A coat of gloss covered her lips. Her eyelashes were longer and more noticeable, and her face caught the light in all the right places.

She wore a small black bomber jacket, black fingerless motorcycle gloves, a hunter's green top, navy blue jeggings and combat boots. ' _Huh, I_ _'_ _ll have to keep this_ ', Amara thought, running her fingers along the jacket. She almost thought that Evie had put a spell on the mirror, that it wasn't _really_ her. The girl in the mirror _looked_ like her, but at the same time, it didn't. She didn't really know what to think.

Today, she'd get the Welcoming Committee Hello and officially be welcomed into Auradon Prep. Today, she'd get her schedule and officially be a student. Today, she'd get to visit the Museum of Cultural History and hear all about the Infamous Four, their story. She hated to admit it to herself, but even the whole idea of the spiel made her antsy. For the last week, Fairy Godmother and Ben had been planting seeds that a new student had already come from the Isle and was staying at Castle Beast, which was _almost_ entirely true. Technically Amara _did_ come from the Isle, just not recently, and Mal and Evie had been staying there for the weekend to help her get ready for the Welcoming Committee.

"How's it going in there?", Mal called from the bathroom of their suite. "She's done, you wanna come see?", Evie asked.

Mal walked out of the bathroom, ambling over to the mirror and staring at it with wide eyes. "Wow. Nice job E. Amara's definitely more prepared than we were when we first came here", Mal said, clearly impressed with Evie's handiwork. "Wait till Jay sees you", Mal commented teasingly. "What are you talking about?", Amara asked, turning back to face Mal.

"Do you not see the way he looks at you?", Mal asked incredulously. Amara opened her mouth to say something, but no words would form. She never really thought about it, well she _did_ , but they were ten years old when all of that happened. There's no way that the feelings he may or may not have had for her were still there, but then again once they became friends, she had grown used to the affectionate way that he had acted around her. Even more so, for their entire relationship until she said goodbye, Jay had always been a bit standoffish about touch, not like he was afraid of it, but more like he found it strange, because his father never showed him any affection like that. Besides, that was just how he looked at her all the time. That was how they always acted with each other, even back on the Isle. They were just really comfortable with each other. That didn't mean there was anything romantic between them, did it? Amara found her heart fluttering at the thought.

"We're just friends. Even after all these years, we're comfortable with each other. That's it", she said, trying to get the attention off of her.

"Riiiiiight. We'll see what happens at the Welcoming. Speaking of which, it's time almost time to go", Mal said, picking up her bag of clothes. Evie picked up her stuff and the two girls looked back at Amara. "You ready to go?", Evie asked her, jolting Amara out of her thoughts. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Ready as I'll ever be", Amara answered half-heartedly.

Evie put down her stuff and walked to Amara, putting her hands on the girl's shoulders. "Hey, listen to me. It's all gonna be just fine. I promise you, these people are too nice to have ultimatums. Well, some of them. But that's not the point. The point is, you're gonna be just fine. Okay?".

"Okay", Amara whispered timidly. What? Why did _she_ sound timid? And why was Evie trying to calm her? Why were they even being _nice_ to her in the first place? She was so freaking confused. Were they just trying to lure her into a false sense of security, just so she'd trust them? She wished Jay were here, then at least she'd know their true intentions, but he said that she could trust them. Maybe he only _thought_ she could trust them, maybe they were planning _some_ cruel and unusual punishment for her behind his back. She shook her head in an attempt to dispel the thoughts. She could trust them, right? She had no reason not to except for the fact that she had kidnapped them. Uuuggghhh! Sometimes her survival instincts were super annoying, always steering her thoughts to expect the worst in people. Her thoughts ran wild as she was led to the entrance of the castle. She took a deep breath as she stepped into the limo that awaited them outside.

They rode on in silence, none of them knowing what to say, all of them eager to escape the awkward veil of silence that descended over them. The clock in the car read 12:00 PM. Amara kept her eyes glued to the window, taking in the scenery. When they finally were pulling into Auradon Prep, Amara was taken aback at what she saw. Out the window stood a magnificent stone castle adorned with blue and gold flags of all shapes and sizes. Every topiary was trimmed to perfection, roses sprinkled on the outside of them. Marching band music gradually filled her ears as they pulled directly in front of the school. People dressed in bright pastel colors and smiles adorning their faces greeted Amara's eyes. The only people in the group that she knew were Jay, Carlos, Ben, and Fairy Godmother. Oddly enough, she felt her hands begin to tremble in her lap as she opened the door. The Marching Band music blasted into her ears as she stepped out of the limo.

Amara's heart began to race at the sight of so many unfamiliar faces, so many hidden enemies. Why was she even getting nervous? She'd never been like that around other people before. ' _Maybe because this is the first time you_ _'_ _re getting up close and personal with so many unfamiliar faces, and you_ _'_ _re out in the open and people are actually seeing your face for the first time._ That _could have something to do with it_ _"_ _,_ she thought sarcastically to herself. Amara kept her composure as she stared curiously around. Mal took her place beside Ben and Evie, after waving and blowing kisses to the masses as if to grace them with her presence, stood next to Carlos. Standing on the other side of Carlos and at the end of the line was none other than Jay. Just the sight of him, his presence alone had been enough to calm her.

"It's so nice to finally have you here", Ben's voice interjected, snapping her out of her thoughts. "It's nice to finally be here, Majesty", she responded rather formally. _Where did that come from?_ Ben stuck out his hand for her to shake. For a few seconds, she merely stared at it, unsure of what to do, but then as if a switch had been flipped, she took his hand in a firm grip as the shook hands, looking him directly in the eye and smiling at him. She caught the slight cock of his head, briefly caught off guard by her bout of friendliness and social awareness. She was surprised about it as well, but at the same time, it felt so natural, like she had grown up with those mannerisms and had been around them all her life, but that of course wasn't the case.

"You look nice", Ben complimented. "Oh, uh, thanks. You have Evie to thank for that", Amara said.

No one had ever said anything like that to her before. It made her feel, dare she say, good? "Was she hard on you?", Ben asked, his tone sympathetic. "It wasn't that bad. At least she didn't make me look like a pink lollipop or a raccoon or anything that falls into that category. I have to admit I _am_ loving this jacket", she said, earning a giggle from the VK girls while popping her collar. She made her way down the line. She shook Evie's hand, then Mal's, then Carlos's. Last but not least, she came upon Jay. "Nice to see you again", she said as she shook his hand, his touch sending electricity all up and down her arm. "Pleasure's all mine", he said, his voice low and smooth. Amara fought the urge to grin. "Do we need to get a room for you two?", Mal teased, causing Jay to break eye contact with her. "I could ask you the same thing, Mal", Jay shot back. Mal merely chuckled.

"Are you ready, Amara?", asked Ben.

"Do I have a choice, Highness?", she asked nonchalantly.

"Not really. It's been decreed by the King", Ben teased, eliciting a chuckle from her. She came too close to questioning why he was joking around with her. He smiled and acted as if she were an old friend. She hoped that she didn't look as confused as she felt. She heard the staccato click of heels against concrete. "Hello, dear one", a warm, familiar voice twinkled. Amara was greeted by the sight of periwinkle, a splash of magenta, the warm smile of none other than the Fairy Godmother.

"Alright. First we'll need to put your things in your dorm room and then you'll be given the tour of the school", Fairy Godmother said, a warm smile on her face. Amara spent a few seconds in silence. Why were they all being so _nice_ to her? She found herself asking that for the umpteenth time. What did they _want_ from her? Probably to hear about the visions, which she _completely_ understood, but if that was the case then why hadn't they already just _asked_ her about it and gotten it over with? Looking at Fairy Godmother, she nodded in agreement. With a smile, Fairy Godmother clapped her hands together. "Wonderful", she said, taking Amara's hand and leading her. Amara flashed Jay a nervous smile. The amused grin that he held would've melted her knees had she not been pulled by Fairy Godmother.

The entrance to the school was impressive to say the least, not quite so impressive as Castle Beast, but a close second. Finally the group had helped her get her things to her room. When she opened the oak door, she was surprised to say the least. Her senses were assaulted with the immediate breeze of brisk air and the brightness of the sun pouring in from the open windows and curtains, which were a bright pastel pink. "You okay?", Mal asked.

"Yeah just give me a second for my eyesight to return. Seriously, it is _way_ too bright in here. They have got to update their color scheme, cuz all this froufrou pastel pink is _not_ doing it for me", Amara stated. Mal and Evie looked at each other in surprise. This girl had a lot more in common with them than they thought. Amara turned back to them, an awkward silence in place for a few seconds. "Umm, thanks for helping me with my stuff", she said, gesturing to her suitcase filled with her new clothes. "Speaking of which, Ben asked me to give you this", Mal said, pulling a small rectangular thing out of her pocket. Amara was surprised when she saw that it was her IPhone. When she first got here, it had been confiscated, why would Ben be giving it back to her now? Was it because he thought that she couldn't do any harm with it? Why was he so _trusting_?

Though her confusion had not yet subsided, she took the phone hesitantly. "You guys put a tracking device on it?", Amara asked, only half-joking. "Who told you?", asked Evie, a baffled expression on her face. Amara was _this_ close to shoving the girl up against the wall before her face melted into a giggle. "Kidding", Evie sing-songed. Amara sighed with relief.

"Okay, so um, all of our numbers have been put into your contacts in case you need anything. And your tour guide should be here in a few minutes", Evie informed.

"You guys aren't showing me around?", Amara asked.

"Oh no, we'll be going with you to the museum, but someone else is going to show you around the school. For some reason, Fairy Godmother thought another native would help you settle in better", Mal explained.

"Did they do all of this for you guys when you all first came here?", she asked.

"No, but then again it could be because we were the First Four. The integration process was a bit touchy in its early stages", Evie explained. Amara's heart began to flutter at the thought of a meeting a new person, an unfamiliar.

"Even if that was the case, that hardly seems fair", Amara said. Why should _she_ get more out of her experience than they did? What was so special about _her_? What set her apart from the other VK's?

"Well, I say enjoy it. There are a _ton_ of cute princes around here", Evie joked.

"Great, so I'll be with somebody that I don't know. Wonderful", Amara muttered as she plopped down on her bed. "You're just disappointed 'cause Jay's not the one showing you around", Mal teased, plopping down next to her.

"I told you, we're just friends", Amara chuckled as Evie sat down on the other side of her bed.

"Sweetie, that is _not_ how it looked in the vision", Evie pointed out, a smirk on her full lips, gasping as soon as she realized her mistake. They had been careful not to bring up the visions, had resisted the urge to ask about them. Thankfully, Amara didn't seem to care.

"We were _ten_ for Pete's sake, and in my defense, I didn't think I was ever going to see him again. And even if I _did_ have feelings for Jay, it doesn't matter. There's no way that after six years of being apart, the feelings that he may or may not have had for me are still there", Amara argued, exasperated at the two girls.

"Clearly, you don't see how protective he is of you, or you of him", Mal said, a mischievous gleam in her green eyes. "That's how we've always acted around each other. We look out for each other. That's how it was back on the Isle, and besides, how I feel about Jay is none of your business".

"Ah, so you _admit_ you have feelings for him", Mal teased.

"I admit nothing", Amara shot back, poking Mal's shoulder. They all then proceeded to giggle uncontrollably until they heard a knock at the door. When Amara turned her head, she could've sworn that she stopped breathing. There standing at the doorway was a face that she knew all too well. "Oh, hi. Are you the tour guide?", Evie asked the guy standing in the doorway. The guy appeared to have four inches on her, short hair as dark as hers tucked into a maroon beanie, skin the color of darkened caramel, and dark eyes with a slight reddish-brown tint to them. He leaned casually against the door frame with his hands loosely in his front pockets, his demeanor calm and relaxed, overall appearing to have a laid-back, chill personality. He was just as she remembered him.

"Yeah. I'm Aziz, I'm sure that Jay has a lot of shade to throw my way", the guy joked, earning a giggle from the two VK girls. "Oh yeah. You're Aladdin and Jasmine's son, right?", Mal asked. Aladdin and Jasmine? Her head began to spin at the realization. So _that_ _'_ _s_ who the family was, but why _them_? Why had she only seen them back when she was on the Isle, when she was younger? Why did she stop seeing his family the minute she set foot in Auradon? "Guilty as charged. So where, pray tell, is our lucky victim?", Aziz asked, a charming, boyish smile on his face. As soon as they locked eyes, the smile melted away to reveal his pure astonishment. At what, Amara didn't know. The awkward silence lasted for about ten seconds before Amara broke it.

"What are you staring at? Is my glamour not working?", she asked sarcastically, waiting to see the look on his face when he would think that she was _actually_ wearing a glamour. As if. "What? Oh, sorry. You just look really familiar. Have we met?", he asked.

"I- I don't think so", Amara answered, the lie slipping out all too easily. Okay _technically_ , it wasn't a lie. She'd never actually _met_ this guy, and she _had_ seen him somewhere before, she just couldn't tell him where, but what confused her was that _she_ looked familiar to _him_. How could _she_ be recognizable? Maybe she just looked like the girls in his kingdom, maybe that was it, but then again, would he look upon them with such familiarity? "Okay, um, we'll just leave you two to it, but like I said, our numbers are in your phone, so just call us if you need anything", Evie said, exiting the room with a cheerful wave goodbye.

"They seem nice. You're name's Amara, right?", Aziz asked, sitting down next to Amara, who was still processing the fact that this was the boy in her visions so long ago. Luckily, her face wasn't giving it away, at least she hoped not. "I'm not so sure why that niceness is directed at myself though", Amara admitted. "Because you're new and you're from the Isle and they were in your shoes not too long ago, although I _could_ be psychoanalyzing this whole thing, which by the way is totally pointless and serves us no purpose", Aziz charmingly joked, eliciting a chuckle from her. "So, you ready to get this over with so you can have your alone time?", Aziz asked. Amara stared back at him incredulously. That was _exactly_ what she wanted to do. Was this guy a mind reader?

"I can see that this is all kind of foreign to you, and you're in an unfamiliar place filled with unfamiliar people. If I were in your shoes, I'd probably be freaking antisocial. Bottom line, I understand", he empathized. "If we leave now, I think we can be back in time for your beauty sleep, alright?", he joked, earning himself a smack on the arm. "Alright Casanova, bring it on", Amara challenged. Aziz got up from the bed and cordially offered her his elbow. Great, now a complete _stranger_ was being nice to her. What _was_ it with this place? After a few seconds, Amara's hand slipped into the crook of his elbow and off the two went, unknowing of how their fates were intertwined.

* * *

Fairy Godmother was unsure. She was unsure if letting Amara come to Auradon Prep was a good idea, she was unsure of how her situation came to be, she wasn't even sure if Amara was who Fairy Godmother _thought_ she was. However, if that were the case, then giving her time with Aziz was the right thing to do. Giving her time with people from her story was the right thing to do, but despite her uncertainty, she did know one thing though. She could tell no one of who Amara might be, not until she was sure, not until her hunch was confirmed.

* * *

"And this is the Student Lounge", Aziz said as he held the door open for her. Seriously? He _did_ know that she could do it for herself, right? She wasn't a dainty cupcake princess. Nonetheless, she let his chivalry slide. She looked around the room, which resembled a coffee shop. Pods of students were seated wherever there were chairs. People stared at her as she was led by Aziz to a group of people singing their own A Capella tune. The boy in the middle who looked to be the leader stood up and walked over to the two. "Yo, Aziz, wassup man?", the guy asked, pulling Aziz into a quick handshake and a just as quick bro hug.

"Hey Casey", Aziz greeted. The Casey guy appeared to be the same height as Aziz and had skin a few shades darker than his, the color of hot chocolate. His closely cropped dark hair matched his eyes, and both that and his full lips sparkled with charisma, perpetually in a ' _sup girl_ _'_ look. His wide nose was in perfect proportion with his slightly round face, and his whole demeanor was the embodiment of what could only be described as 'cool daddy'. "Who is _this_ fine thang, and where have you been hiding her?", Casey asked, ogling her.

"Amara. I'm new here", she introduced herself.

"Wait, you dat new chick from the Isle?", Casey asked. Amara nodded.

"Well damn, I should take a visit sometime, if all the ladies there are as fine as you", Casey said, picking up her hand and kissing her knuckles. Wow, this guy was a _major_ flirt. She tried not to look too flustered and slightly weirded out as she pulled her hand away. "Alright if you didn't already know, this gentleman is Casillus, my roommate, son of one of the Muses, what's her name?"

"Calliope. And don't let my momma find out that you forgot", he chastised.

"Right, so sorry", Aziz apologized, bowing mockingly. "Anyway, he prefers to be called Casey, and as you can see, he's very friendly, mainly towards people of the opposite sex. Those are all his cousins", Aziz explained, gesturing to the group. Amara snickered at Aziz's comment.

"And thank you _so_ much for putting that introduction so eloquently. However, there's a reason I'm friendly, because being the son of a Muse, I know a work of art when I see one", Casey said flirtatiously, looking her up and down.

"Did you practice that line in front of the mirror?", Amara asked. "Ooohh, boy she got you", shouted one of his cousins, high fiving one of his brothers and sisters, or was it cousins? "Ah, feisty. I like feisty", Casey said, his eyes continuing to wander. All she could focus on in that moment were the pairs of eyes that now stared at her, which caused her heartbeat to increase.

As if noticing her internal distress, Aziz lightly touched her elbow. "Alright, I don't know about you guys, but we really don't have time for an all-out roast war, so we're gonna have to cut this short. Amara has to stay on schedule, and you know how Fairy Godmother is about curfews", Aziz said, to which the Muses's children nodded in agreement. "Amara, you ready?", he asked, holding out his hand. She nodded 'yes' as he led her out of the Student Lounge. When the fresh air hit her face, all was right with the world again. "You alright?", Aziz asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for saving me back there. How did you know?", she asked.

"Know what?", Aziz asked, feigning ignorance.

"You know what I mean. How did you know to get me out of there?".

He bit a microscopic portion of his lip in contemplation. "I'm not sure. Your face isn't really an open book. In fact you looked like you were totally fine, but", he stopped.

"What?", she asked, her curiosity peaked.

"You're gonna think I'm crazy, or a stalker, or something like that", he said sheepishly.

"Come on, tell me. I promise I won't run away screaming", she teased as they walked away from the lounge. He looked at her, biting his lip in hesitation.

"Okay", he shrugged. "As I was saying, you looked like you were totally fine, but suddenly I just got this feeling, like a bug under a microscope, and a racing heart. The crazy thing was that I knew it wasn't me. Somehow, I just sensed that it was you, and my first instinct was to just get you out of there", he admitted honestly. "Weird, right?", he asked. "I've experienced weirder things. Trust me, it's totally okay", she said, reassuring him. This wasn't going on her Top Ten List of Weird Things that have Happened to her, but she had to admit it _was_ a bit strange that this guy whom she had _just_ met was suddenly feeling what she felt, _exactly_ what she felt. Maybe he was an Empath and he didn't know it. She'd have to keep an eye on him.

"Well, strange twin telepathy moment aside, let's continue, shall we?", he said, standing up and holding out his hand to her. She took it, letting it fall as soon as she stood up. "Where to next, oh wise one?", she asked.

* * *

The tour ended about an hour later, at least it should've, but Amara was simply too busy getting to know her tour guide. When it was over, he turned her loose. She'd admit at first she thought it was weird talking to him because he was the son of her childhood crush's father's enemy, but those feelings dissipated as soon as she got to know him. It was so easy to talk to him. He made her feel totally relaxed, totally at ease with her surroundings, which she found strange given that she had only just _met_ the guy. She had only experienced that feeling with one other person, and it took _weeks_ of time spent together to acquire those feelings of comfort with him.

The sun was directly overhead. ' _Huh, noon already. I_ _'_ _ll be going to the Museum in a couple of hours_ _'_ _,_ she thought. It calmed her to know that she'd finally be spending some time with some familiar faces, with Jay. She was surprised that she was trusted enough to be left alone wandering the campus. As she walked by, people began to point and stare, but she paid them no mind. She'd have to learn to get used to people staring at her, to people actually _seeing_ her. She was so used to hiding, so used to staying in the shadows, and now, all of that was being uprooted. However, under every bit of skepticism and cynicism, there was some part of her that felt relieved that she didn't have to hide anymore.

She breathed in the scent of midday, of the breeze that floated past her, carrying floral aromas her way as she walked aimlessly. She found that she would've been content to just stand still and take it all in. She just prayed to God and whatever other deity that was out there that no one would come up to her. Maybe she should go back to her room, or maybe she should do some more exploring, or maybe she should wait in front of the school for the limo to take her to the museum. She didn't know _what_ to do with herself. "Hey", she heard a familiar voice say. She turned around to find the most familiar face in her life. She found herself calming down with Jay's close proximity. "Hey", she said back.

"Nice jacket", he complimented, examining the collar. "Certainly helps you fit in with the VK's", he pointed out. "Thanks", Amara said sarcastically.

"So, how was the tour?", he asked.

"It was pretty good. My tour guide was actually the son of Aladdin and Jasmine. How weird is that? He's actually pretty cool. Do you know him?", she asked.

"Not well. I mean we're on the tourney team together, but we don't really talk to each other", he answered. "I guess I understand how that can be kind of awkward", she said. "Did I also mention that I got ogled by a Muse?".

"What?", he asked incredulously. "Yeah. This Casey dude called me a work of art, total cheesy pickup line and I called him out on it. It was awesome", she said, chuckling.

"Wish I could've been there", he said, almost wistful sounding. "Well, you will be there when I go to the museum and I hear the story of how the First Four began the healing of a rift that has been left untreated for far too long", Amara said in a mock-proclaiming voice. "Which is exactly why I went looking for you. The limo's ready".

"Already? Wow, I have been spending _way_ too long sniffing the roses", she joked, a chuckle emitting from Jay. "Okay, we better get going before Fairy Godmother blows a gasket", Jay said, holding out his elbow cordially to her. "Why thank you kind sir", she joked, smiling. "Anything for the lady", he responded, smiling back at her. As they walked to the limo, they shared a chuckle or two. Amara missed this. She missed their playful banter, she missed his smile, she just missed _him_ , and it was the first time all day that she felt totally comfortable and secure.


	10. A Trip Down Memory Lane

**Chapter 9**

It took everything in Jay not to let his jealousy overtake him and bring his reptilian traits to the surface. He knew he had no right or need to be, she was only making friends. Still, the way that she spoke of the son of his father's enemy planted the seed of envy into his heart. It wasn't like he had any beef with the guy, but the fact that he and Amara had hit it off so easily had him feeling sick to his stomach. It took many weeks on the Isle for Amara to warm up to him, but then again it also took a while for him to warm up to _her_ , so again he didn't have a right to be jealous. Alas, he just couldn't help himself. Not to mention that she had been ogled by _Casey_ of all people. At least her presence had done something to placate him. He just hoped that he could keep his cool until the end of the day.

Amara climbed into the limo, taking a seat next to Mal with Jay sitting across from her. On the way to the museum, Amara wasn't exactly feeling talkative. Then again she never felt very talkative around people she wasn't fully comfortable with. She could sense that they wanted to talk to her about something, and she awaited the moment they finally worked up the guts to ask her. Mal rhythmically tapped her knee during the awkward silence. "Umm, so how was the tour?", asked Evie, trying to break the silence. The fact that she was even attempting to do that only sent up warning signs to Amara. But what was the harm in humoring the blue-haired princess?

"Uumm, it was okay. Aziz was super chill, and he was really easy to talk to", Amara honestly. She could see Jay tense slightly, though it appeared that the others didn't noticed. "I heard that you swooned over Casey's flirting", Carlos chuckled empathetically. She exhaled, slapping her palm to her face.

"Oh my God, is _that_ what he's saying?", Amara asked incredulously.

"Yeah, that's what _he's_ saying, but his cousins are telling a different story. Care to elaborate?", asked Carlos.

"Uuggh, guys. _Always_ have to protect their egos. He flirted with me, that much is true. But the swooning part in no way, shape, or form is true. I literally asked the guy if he had practiced that line in front of the mirror. I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't mind a _little_ bit of flirting, but Casey was going a bit overboard. I'm sure he's fun to hang out with, but he seems like a bit of a player", Amara said.

The whole group was silent for a few seconds. That was the most that they'd ever heard her say in one answer. "You'd be right. I've never heard of him ever having a serious girlfriend. There have also been many occasions where he has tried to flirt with Evie and I, mainly when we first got here", Mal said.

"What was it like?", Amara asked, resting her chin in her palm and staring dreamily at the rest of the group. Mal looked confused for a few seconds, looking to the rest of the group before facing Amara. "Well, it was a huge adjustment for us. I mean, the only reason we even came was because our parents wanted to use us to take over Auradon.", Mal said.

"And there were some people that didn't want us here anymore than we wanted to be here. But as time went on, we realized that we didn't have to be evil. It's worked out for us so far", Jay said, his hands folded around each other. Once the limo stopped, everyone filed out and took in the fresh air.

"Okay, does _every_ important building in Auradon look like a castle?", Amara asked as she saw the museum for the first time.

"That's _pretty_ much the only type of building here", Jay said.

"True", she agreed.

The five approached the doors of the museum, four of them reminiscing about the first time they were here. "So, is this where the story continues?", Amara asked.

"Oh, _this_ is where the story gets funny", Carlos commented. "Oh my gosh, remember? Jay tried to kick the door open?", Evie giggled.

"Wait, _what_?", Amara asked incredulously.

"Guys, I'm sure she doesn't want to hear about that", Jay said through clenched teeth.

"No, I _definitely_ want to hear about it. What happened?", she asked as they entered the museum. Since no Auradonian authorities were with them, they could regale her with the tales of trying to steal the wand.

"When we finally got here to steal the wand, of course we have to subdue the guard, and what better way to do that than a good ole' fashioned sleeping curse?", Mal explained. Amara nodded in agreement.

"Of course after being teased about her mother's dorky spinning wheel", Carlos added with a snicker.

"Shut up Carlos, who's telling the story here?", Mal scolded, a snicker coming from Carlos.

"Okay, where was I? Oh, right. So anyway, I finally get the guard to sleep, right? My hand wraps around the knob, and what do you know? It's locked. So, Jay over here is like 'Stand back', like in this cool voice, like he's got everything under control. So _just_ as the door's opening after I say the unlocking spell, Jay's got his foot stuck out like he's about to kick open the door, but alas, he lands on his butt". Mal told the story with such a smile on her face and her giggles rang like bells. Jay stood next to her, shaking his head with a scrunched smile.

Amara felt a bit weirded out by the fact that they were so comfortable with her already. It was unsettling, and it only served to further her suspicions that they were in some way, shape, or form plotting her demise. But on the other hand, it felt nice for once to just relax and have a normal conversation with people. She decided to revisit her skeptical feelings later and enjoy the museum. "Hello everyone", singsonged the voice of the Fairy Godmother as she strutted over to the group. "So sorry I'm late. I had to take care of a few other arrangements at the school. Let's begin", Fairy Godmother said.

They took her to the Gallery of Enchanted Armor, the Hall of Swords, the Gallery of Kingdoms under the Sea, and the Gallery of Gnomes, Trolls and Dwarves. She loved every minute of it. She loved hearing about the history of Auradon, she loved all the stories that came with each gallery. She couldn't believe that she never thought to bust in here, actually she could. She only busted into a place if it had something that she needed. Museums didn't tend to have anything that she needed, but walking through the Museum of Cultural History, Amara felt something stir. It wasn't something life-changing or anything like that, but it was a stir nonetheless.

"Ah, here we are, the Gallery of Heroes", Fairy Godmother's voice rang as she introduced the gallery. The group of five stared in awe. None of them had ever set foot into the Heroes gallery before today. The golden room shined brightly, the likenesses of each hero radiating glory and heroism for all that entered their presence. The VK's felt a strange sense of reverence for this place. It made them feel hopeful, it solidified their belief that good was more powerful than evil. Had they not been so awestruck and entranced, they almost would've felt out of place.

Amara felt the same reverence as they did, but not only did she feel a sense of reverence for the people whom the likenesses represented for overcoming evil, it also gave her a strange sense of peace, like everything was going to be alright. Even more so, the ambience of the room gave her the oddest sense of familiarity as she passed each likeness. She stopped dead in her tracks at one likeness in particular. "Ah yes, this is the one of the most visited ones", Fairy Godmother said as she approached the likenesses.

"People seem to love Aladdin and Jasmine's story particularly. Do you know it?", asked Fairy Godmother. "All too well", Amara said absentmindedly. Back when she was in the junk shop on the Isle, she'd hear Jafar go on and on about it. She paid the memory no mind. She was too entranced with the likenesses of Aziz's parents, which was weird. Why was she so captivated by them? Why was she feeling an almost overwhelming sense of dejá vu as she was staring at Aladdin and Jasmine's likenesses? Everything about the scene made her dejá vu slap her in the face. ' _You have seen this before Amara!_ ', it screamed at her. The background was an Arabian night sky, sparkling with stars. The likenesses were kneeled on the carpet looking up, their eyes so filled with wonder as if they were seeing the world for the first time.

The likeness of a large, blue man took up a third of the background, his big arms folded against his chest, with one little spike of black hair at the top of his head. He had gold binds around his wrists, and the lower half of his body appeared to be made of air, waving and emerging from a golden lamp. This must've been the Genie that Jafar always kept muttering about, the one that escaped him.

Aladdin's likeness was dressed in an open purple vest and baggy cream colored pants, a small maroon fez adorning the top of his head. She understood that maybe the real Aladdin looked older than this, but seeing the likeness, she immediately knew that Aziz was the spitting image of his father. The likeness of his mother was no less fascinating. Needless to say, she was beautiful. She was adorned in poofy turquoise pants and a bandeau with off-the-shoulder sleeves the same color. The light made her golden pointy shoes and the jewel that she wore on her head glint. The thing that caught her attention the most was their faces. Her sense of dejá vu only grew. It wasn't just because Aziz looked like the likeness of his father, or that Jasmine's likeness looked familiar. No, it was something more than that, she was sure of it.

"Hey", she heard a voice say gently, the hand on her shoulder that followed suit jolting her out of her trance. Her head whipped around to be greeted by the sight of Jay, his concerned eyes blanketing her with reassurance. She looked around to see that the group was already at the entrance of the gallery, speaking with Fairy Godmother about something. She hadn't even realized that they had seen the gallery without her, not that it bothered her at all. "Listen. We're thinking about skipping the Gallery of Villains", Jay said.

"Why?", she asked.

"Well, it's just- Fairy Godmother's just concerned that something will trigger your visions", Jay explained, and something in his tone told Amara that he agreed with her.

"So what if it does? I mean, if I'm lucky, I'll get some answers", Amara said. Jay bit his lip. Amara could sense that he wanted to object. Though she didn't understand it, she was nonetheless touched by his concern. "Hey, I'm gonna be fine, okay? Besides, they usually only come when I'm sleeping, and even if it does happen while I'm conscious, you'll be there to keep any of your friends from drawing a moustache on me while I'm out. Okay?". A chuckle emitted from Jay. He took one look back at his friends before walking back to them.

Amara felt herself smiling as she watched him go back to his group. Oddly enough, she saw Fairy Godmother telling them something that immediately changed their dispositions. She stared back at the scene, feeling a sudden tightness in her chest when she knew she had to leave it. ' _Why do I feel such an attachment to this? They're very life-like wax figurines'_ , she questioned herself. Maybe it wasn't the likenesses themselves, but the story that they represented. Even so, why _that_ particular story? Maybe it was because of Jay, because of their relationship, but something told her that it was more than that. "Hey, you coming?", Mal called.

"Yeah, in a sec", Amara called back. She took one last look at the scene before jogging over to the group. Fairy Godmother's warm eyes seemed weighed down a bit by the concern in them. Mal and Evie's eyes were downcast in contemplation, darting up as soon as they heard her approaching. Everyone's gaze immediately shifted to her. "Why are you all staring at me?", she asked, crossing her arms.

"We know that Jay has already talked to you about this, but", Fairy Godmother paused, clasping her hands together. "are you _certain_ that being in the Gallery of Villains won't trigger anything?", she asked. Fairy Godmother's eyes bore into her, something that looked like urgency within them. Immediately, that sent up warning signs to Amara. Fairy Godmother was hiding something, that much Amara was sure of. That made much more sense to Amara than the Fairy Godmother actually _caring_ about her safety. For the sake of not drawing unwanted attention to her realization, Amara decided to let the matter drop, for now.

"Yes, I'm positive", she lied, her face as straight as ever. Appearing to be satisfied, Fairy Godmother resumed her cheerful and kind disposition. "Alright then, let's move on", Fairy Godmother said, her voice chipper. The VK's didn't look so convinced, Jay least of all, but they continued on as of everything were normal.

Even if there hadn't been a sign to indicate what the gallery was, the drastic change in lighting was a dead giveaway. Amara froze in her tracks as she saw the dim silvery light of the dark room highlight the villain's likenesses, giving the room an eerie ambience. "Well, the artist behind the likenesses clearly knew what they were doing. They actually _look_ sinister", Amara pointed out. She walked through the gallery, stepping slowly so that she could take it all in. The sinister, spine-chilling aura of the room had her nerves on high-alert. She passed each likeness with a sense of astonishment. She'd seen each of the women maybe a few times when she was on the Isle. She'd been all over the woods, all over the island for that matter. Even after all these years away, she still remembered every hiding place and secret nook and cranny.

She'd see Evil Queen constantly running around her castle, trying to make Evie look as beautiful as possible no matter how painful it got to be. At one point, she'd seen Carlos get dragged around by his mother with an actual leash and it had gotten to the point that when he wasn't wearing it, a red ring around his neck with the skin on the verge of being rubbed off was visible. She'd seen Maleficent strutting around the Isle with her goons, Mal always staring up at her in awe, and then when Maleficent would chastise her for not being evil enough, Amara remembered Mal would tense and get this stone-like expression on her face, trying not to show weakness. All the while, she knew that Mal would crumble inside with each time her mother would belittle her.

She remembered all the times that she would check up on them, staying out of sight. She remembered their sadness the most, their despair at not being loved the way that they should've been. She remembered wanting to reach out to them, to help them in some way like she had been doing for Jay. She remembered a certain feeling coming over her. She couldn't name what it was, but the feeling overwhelmed her, telling her that they needed to stay right where they were, like the Fates had laid it all out and that she was not to interfere. Even though it killed her to do so, she stopped going to check up on them. She closed herself off, and shortly after, she told Jay that she had to leave. As much as she wanted to deny it, she cared about them all, even if they didn't reciprocate.

"Hey, you okay?", Evie asked, her hand on Amara's shoulder. Amara's gaze shifted to the blue-haired girl for a few seconds before darting back to where it was. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just… memories, that's all", she said softly.

"What? Did my mom do something to you or something?", she asked. Amara was a bit surprised. It sounded like Evie actually wanted to get to know her, but that couldn't be possible, could it? "No, I tried my best to steer clear of these guys", Amara said, gesturing to the villain likenesses. Evie let her hand slip off of Amara's shoulder. "Sorry, I just thought-"

"That I was having a vision?", Amara finished for her. Evie looked slightly taken aback, like she had been caught in a crime. Noticing her expression, Mal stepped next to Evie, eyeing Amara with the same face. "Guys, I know you've wanted to ask me about what happened last week. I mean, if we're all going to school together, we should at least all be on the same page. I'm not saying we have to be best friends, but we should at least understand one another", Amara stated. Mal and Evie closed their eyes and let out a sigh of relief. The group migrated over to a bench next to the Evil Queen's likeness.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on her, anxiously awaiting what she had to say. "Okay, so what _did_ happen? Why did we all see each other's memories?", Mal asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, but maybe it was because we", she gestured to herself, Mal and Evie, "needed to have _some_ understanding of each other".

"Why would we need to understand each other?", Evie asked.

"I'm not sure. Maybe it's because we need to work together for what's coming", Amara answered honestly.

"And what exactly _is_ coming?", asked Carlos. Amara's gaze shifted to the De Vil boy. What was she supposed to say? That the Eclipse is what was coming and yet she had no idea what that meant or what it even _was_?

"I wish I knew", Amara said softly. "I came here six years ago because that's what the vision told me to do, and-", Amara suddenly went quiet, stopping herself before she revealed too much. They continued to stare at her, transfixed by her response. It looked like they weren't going anywhere anytime soon, she might as well tell them. "Look, ever since I was six years old, I've been seeing things. Flashes of the past, the present, the distant future. Lately, Mal's spell book along with two others are what I have been seeing. Those visions have been guiding me in their own special way. They're what helped me escape from Jafar, and they haven't been wrong yet. Now I just wish I knew what they were trying to tell me", Amara said wistfully.

The group stared at her in disbelief. It was as though everything had clicked into place, and part of the puzzle was put together. They couldn't understand how she had gone this long on her own, and they could see that being alone was beginning to take a toll on her. The sound of clicking heels brought them back to the present. They all looked up to see Fairy Godmother. "Kids, I'm sorry but we're going to have to cut this short. The limos have somewhere else to be in a short time. They're waiting at the museum entrance", Fairy Godmother explained. Amara shot up quickly from her seat, anxious to get away from their astonished eyes when she realized that she had told them too much. "I'm gonna go on ahead, if that's alright", Amara said.

She jogged ahead of the group, not waiting for an answer, pushing the museum doors open with one heave. She yanked open the door to the limo and hastily climbed inside, slamming it shut. She retreated to the back of the limo, drawing further and further into herself. She felt her heartbeat go from zero to a million in two second flat. She kept herself completely still and rigid, her fingers lacing themselves together around her knees. She sat in silence for the next few minutes. A part of her was yelling very colorful expletives at her, along the lines of ' _Are you out of your freaking mind?! What happened to nobody being able to get involved? What the bloody hell is wrong with you?!'_.

However, another part of her felt at peace, like helping them understand was the right thing to do. Ever since she first showed herself to them, everything became so blurred, jumbled, conflicting and it was driving her nuts. She didn't know whether or not she trusted the VK's, but her gut told her that she could, that she _needed_ to. Uugghh, it was all so confusing. She heard the door opening and other people shuffling into the car, probably the group, and then the limo began to move. The silence in the limo was almost deafening as they rode on, and Amara only drew further and further into herself.

When the limo finally stopped, everyone filed out of the car, and Amara was the last to step out. When she pushed the door closed, she was surprised when she turned around to be greeted by the sight of their concerned eyes. As the limo drove away, they stared at her. "Listen, I'm gonna… head back to my dorm", she said, jogging to the entrance of the school without waiting to hear the questions that she knew were coming. She had to be alone at the moment, she had to be away from all of them.

The sounds of her combat boots echoed throughout the massive halls as she stomped quickly up the stairs. She flew past students who looked at her in confusion. When she finally reached her dorm, she shoved open the door, which she slammed so hard ricocheted off the frame. Her hands curled into fists against the wall. She struggled to calm herself after everything that had happened, everything that she had revealed. She figured that eventually she was going to have to grow used to the feeling of being exposed, but for right now, she was freaking out.

"You're not about to start having a panic attack, are you?", a snarky voice asked, causing Amara to whip her head around, startled. She was greeted by the sight of a fair-skinned girl that had long dark violet hair with magenta highlights pulled up into a high ponytail and a gold head chain centered with a sapphire. Her light blue eyes were filled with scrutiny and just a hint of curiosity. She wore blue harem pants, black ankle boots with gold heels, and jewels adorning the collar of her black top. Her crossed arms brought attention to her gold leather jacket and thin gold bangles on her wrists, and under her right eyebrow, two small jewels glinted over a light blue eyeshadow.

"Who are you?", Amara asked.

"Oh, Fairy Godmother didn't tell you? I'm your new roomie", the girl said in a sugary tone.

"What?", Amara asked incredulously. "No one told me about this!".

"I only just learned about it after you left for the museum, so that makes two of us", the girl muttered. "I mean, seriously? I was doing _just_ fine on the shelf down the hall. It was actually an ideal spot for me, but noooo. Fairy Godmother just insists that _I_ move in with you to help you get better settled", the girl ranted.

"Shelf?", Amara asked, confused.

"Oh right. I almost forgot, I'm Jordan. My dad's the Genie", she introduced, her bangles jingling as she held out her hand. Amara shook it hesitantly.

"That's strange. Has Fairy Godmother always acted like this?", Amara asked.

"No, not really. She's never been _this_ pushy", Jordan mused.

It made Amara stop to think. First Aziz, _Aladdin's_ son, is assigned to be her tour guide, and then this Jordan chick, _Genie's_ daughter, is assigned to be her roommate. Both of those Descendants were born from the same story, _Aladdin's_ story. Why assign multiple people from the same story to her? And why that particular story?

"Are you gonna introduce yourself, or are you gonna just stand there?", Jordan asked, her hip cocking.

"Finally, a refresher from all this Auradon _niceness._ Glad to know that _one_ of you is trustworthy", Amara commented, crossing her arms and smirking at the sassy genie.

"Ooo, ouch", she sarcastically retorted, her smile genuine.

"My name's Amara", she said, holding out her hand. As soon as the words left her lips, Jordan's eyes looked ready to bug out of their head. Shock was plastered all across Jordan's face.

"Are you okay?", Amara asked, confused at Jordan's sudden reaction.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah I'm fine", Jordan said, snapping out of her brief stupor and shaking Amara's hand. Amara shook off the thoughts of the genie's strange reaction and plopped down on the bed, sinking into her thoughts of what had happened at the museum. Did she honestly have to run out on them? Would they even understand why? Maybe Jay would, but the others Amara wasn't so sure about.

"So how is this roommate thing gonna work out?", Amara asked.

"Don't worry, you won't even know that I'm here. I like to stay in my lamp for the most part", Jordan explained.

" Is there a bathroom in there?", Amara asked jokingly.

A snort came from Jordan followed by a sound resembling a cackle. "Glad I amuse you", Amara said sarcastically. "What? No, sorry. It's just that no one's ever had the guts to just _ask_ me outright, but I know that they wonder. Yes, there is a bathroom in there", Jordan laughed.

A knock on the door caught their attention. Amara's heart nearly caught in her throat at who she saw standing at the door. "Is now a good time? Or do you want to be alone?", asked Jay as he casually leaned against the doorframe.

"Uh, no no no. It's fine. Come in", Amara said. Upon being invited in, Jay took a seat at the foot of her bed. Jordan looked back and forth between the two of them a few times, her eyes widening a bit. "Okay. I just remembered, I have to go talk to Aziz about something, but I'll be back later. I'll just leave you two to whatever this is", Jordan said, waving her hand in between the two of them. As Jordan walked out the door, Amara watched her. The genie girl waggled her eyebrows as her eyes darted back and forth between the two of them. Thank the gods Jay wasn't watching.

Amara turned back to Jay, who was staring at her with concerned eyes. "So what's up?", she asked him. Jay ran a hand up and down the back of his neck, almost like he was nervous. "I just-, I wanted to stop by and make sure that you were okay. You ran out pretty fast", he said. Amara felt her head drooping in shame. She hadn't meant to do that, it was just like a spur-of-the-moment thing. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm totally fine. I guess I was just feeling a bit, I don't know, ah-"

"Vulnerable?", Jay asked, even though he knew that the answer was 'yes'. She was a bit astonished at the fact that he knew how she was feeling, but then again, he knew just how she operated.

"Yeah. I'm sorry I ditched you guys. I wasn't trying to be rude or anything, I just-", she babbled timidly. Her first thought was ' _What the heck?_ '. She's _never_ sounded timid before, then again she's never felt ashamed of her actions before.

"Hey, it's okay. I know you're not one to wear your secrets out on your sleeve. You're not used to a lot of people knowing anything about you. I guess I can understand that it might be kind of nerve-wracking for you", Jay said, understanding in his dark eyes. Even after all these years, she was left speechless at the way that Jay seemed to understand her. She had to admit that it was nice to have someone like that, to have someone who _knew_ her, who understood her, someone she could trust.

"Listen, Jay. I- thanks for everything" Amara said honestly. Jay cocked his head to one side in confusion. "What are you talking about?", he asked.

"I mean, you've done so much to help me and it means a lot, so thank you. And thanks for coming to check up on me. That's really sweet of you", Amara admitted.

Jay's eyes warmed at her words. "Anytime", he said with a knee-melting smile. Thank the gods she was already sitting down.

"And also, I wanted to come by because, well", he stopped, looking a bit sheepish as he ran his hand up and down the back of his neck again.

"What?", Amara asked.

"I- well we haven't really had the chance to talk since all of this craziness started, so I just thought that maybe we could, you know, catch up", he said, his eyes sparkling with hope. How could she refuse? After everything that he had done for her, it was the least that she could do. Besides, it was just a talk.

"Okay. What do you wanna know?", she asked. Jay looked up at her in surprise, like he hadn't been expecting her to say yes. His smile and the way that his eyes lit up told her that he was happy that she had. The rest of their afternoon was filled with conversation. Amara told him everything that had happened, from the second she set foot in Auradon to when she had snuck into his room that night weeks ago. She had told him of the time gaps in her visions, how she stole to survive, and pretty much answered any question that he asked. He was surprised to say the least. Even after all these years, she still trusted him completely. He was in awe of the fact that _he_ was the only one she had chosen to gift the privilege of her trust.

Jay reciprocated, telling her everything that had happened since she left, well, _almost_ everything. He told her the entire story of their journey to Auradon, how they started out to go and steal the wand, but realized they were good, how Jay went on to be MVP on the tourney team. When she asked him what the game was exactly, his entire face lit up like a New Year celebration. Amara wasn't surprised that Jay got into a sport of some kind, the guy was naturally athletic. She loved hearing him speak so passionately about something, it entranced her. All in all, this little visit proved to be quite satisfying on both ends.

"Okay, there's just one thing that I have to ask", Amara said.

"What's up?", asked Jay.

"Do I seriously have to take a class called 'Remedial Goodness'?", Amara asked incredulously, earning a chuckle from Jay.

"Unfortunately, yes, but don't worry. Your's truly will be there to make it all better", Jay said flirtatiously, smirking in the same manner.

"No self-esteem issues on your end I see", Amara teased, poking his shoulder. "Besides, I can handle all these Auradon snowflake cupcakes", she said.

"Trust me, Shadow. I have every reason to believe that you'll eat them alive, should they be stupid enough to cross you", Jay teased. Amara found herself smiling at her old nickname. She was pretty sure she'd have to come up with one for him pretty soon. "I'd better get going. If you need anything, my number is already in your phone, so just let me know, okay?", he asked, something in his eyes that resembled hopefulness.

"Yeah, thanks again", she said. Jay gave a single nod and stood up from her bed, walking towards the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow", she said just as he stepped over the threshold. He looked back at her and smiled warmly. "See you, Shadow", he said warmly, disappearing behind the door. His footsteps became quieter as he went farther and farther down the hall. Amara relaxed, leaning back down on the bed, her head sinking into the goose-down pillow. She let out a deep sigh, as if it would expel her nerves. She rolled over to look at the alarm clock on her nightstand. It read 6:00 PM. Seriously? They'd been talking for _three_ hours? She smiled to herself. She had forgotten how easy it was to talk to Jay, how natural and comfortable it felt.

"Might as well take a shower", she mused, shedding her clothes and finding a fluffy robe to wrap herself in. As she stepped into the bathroom, she saw a black makeup carrier with an entire beauty regimen hanging from the cabinet. Amara let out a small breath as she examined the thing. It didn't nearly compare to Evie's collection, in fact by the looks of it, it was the bare basic minimum. Amara picked up the note.

' _Stay beautiful *heart*' E,_ it said. Amara felt herself smiling at the gesture. That was nice of her, and it made her skepticism sky-rocket. Why would Evie _do_ this for her? ' _Maybe she was trying to be nice_ ', Amara thought. She shrugged it off, deciding that she'd sort out her conflicting feelings after a nice hot shower. She let the hot water run over her skin, washing away all of the days anxieties, for a brief moment for getting that there would be more tomorrow. There would be more unfamiliar people staring at her, there would be schoolwork, to which she had no idea that her self-education would help at all, and to top it all off, she still had a job to do, but those were all tomorrow problems. Right now, she breathed in the steam and continued to let the hot water wash over her and cleanse her.

* * *

Jordan's heart was racing. It ought to be, if her new roommate was who she thought it was, but how could that possibly be? For all Jordan knew, there could've been _plenty_ of girls named Amara, but there was only _one_ that she knew of. Her heart began to clench as memories overcame her. She remembered the sadness in her father's eyes when she was only a child as he told her what had happened to Aziz's sister, how she had been abducted and possibly taken along with Jafar to the Isle of the Lost, with no hope of ever seeing her again.

' _Daddy? What did Aunt Jasmine and Uncle Aladdin name her?',_ she had asked him so long ago.

' _Amara_ ' had been his answer. She remembered asking if Aziz knew about her, knew her name. At that point in time, he didn't know about her. His parents hadn't told him until he was ten years old. Jordan remembered him emerging from the experience wiser, the look in his face aging him a few years before his time. Before she knew about Amara, she'd never noticed the toll that her kidnapping was beginning to take on the family. Knowing that her roommate might possibly be the missing daughter of Aladdin and Jasmine, not to mention the Lost Princess of Agrabah, sent Jordan reeling.

She wasn't sure what to think. She wasn't sure who to turn to, but she knew one thing. She couldn't tell anyone. She couldn't tell her parents, she couldn't tell Aladdin and Jasmine, she couldn't even tell Aziz, not until she was sure. All she had to go on was a name, after all. She knew that pretty soon, she'd have to talk to someone, but for right now, she'd have to keep quiet. And another thing was for sure, she'd have to keep a close eye on Amara, because if she truly _was_ the Lost Princess of Agrabah, then there would be no keeping her from her family. ' _Don't get ahead of yourself. First you have to find out if it's really her_ ', Jordan reminded herself. With that in mind, she marched back to her room, her mind contemplating how to go about the situation if it _did_ turn out that Amara was who she thought.


	11. First Day

**Chapter 10**

 _Amara was nowhere. Nothing above, below or around her, nothing but white, white, white. She remembered when the brightness used to be too much for her, that she'd have to cover her eyes, but by now she was used to the brightness. Usually this meant she was going to be spoken to._

" _You mustn't get distracted child", the woman's voice scolded her. Amara wished she could say that this was some random crazy dream that was completely a figment of her imagination. Unfortunately, she knew better. "Do not forget why you are here. Do not forget your task", the voice urged. Amara had never seen the woman, only heard her velvety golden voice all her life. Amara used to ask time and time again who she was. She had never been supplied with an answer. "Do not let your emotions blind you. Do not let them cloud your judgement, and do not let them dull your senses. You must be alert", the voice urged._

 _Suddenly a panorama of images flooded her. Each and every one of them involved a cobra that stood no more than ten feet tall, their massive bodies recoiled and hoods entirely spread out, mouths open and fangs completely visible, releasing ear piercing hisses. The last thing she saw was the ruins that she first saw Jay, the ruins where she had been captured, Castle Blackborough, and a high-ceilinged room filled to the brim with books and potions and anything else of the sort. "You must know your enemy child. You must stand by your allies, you will need them", the voice urged. Then everything went dark._

* * *

Aziz couldn't get her out of his head. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop thinking about her, how familiar she looked. Hell, she looked _just_ like his mother. He couldn't stop thinking about what had happened between them yesterday, he couldn't explain _how_ he knew what she was feeling, or why. How could he when he didn't even know what was going on? It wasn't like he had any romantic feelings towards her, they'd only just met after all. But why would he suddenly sense the feelings of a complete stranger? Why was he suddenly drawn to her? His hand reached into his back pocket for his sister's necklace, then dropped.

It had to be a coincidence. There was no way that this new girl could be her, no possible way. For all Aziz knew, his sister could be dead, her corpse left to rot on the Isle of the Lost. The mere thought of it sickened him, but he found it hard to believe that after all this time, she would just _show_ up. There was no way that Amara could be his sister, no way. But maybe there was the possibility that…

' _No_ ', he thought. He had given up hope a long time ago and now he was trying to move on with his life. Allah knows how many nights he used to lay awake, wondering about her, wondering what she was like, wondering if she knew who her family was. Eventually, he stopped wondering, figuring that wherever she was, she was long gone. But now, now he wasn't so sure. As he entered his History of Auradon class, the very girl that his thoughts refused to let go of sat rat in the front row.

* * *

Amara had been lost in her thoughts all morning. Sure, she got dressed and barely swept on the face powder that Evie got her. Sure, she sat in her first class of the day, but she was not there, not really. Her mind stayed glued to her dream, particularly the last image. It was the only one that made sense. "Alright everyone, take your seats", the teacher said, making Amara's head snap up and lock eyes with Aziz. After a few seconds, he quickly made his way to his seat, which apparently happened to be right next to her.

"Hey", Aziz greeted, giving a slight wave of his hand as he sat down. "Hey", Amara said back, surprised that they had a class together. This had to be the second time that she'd seen him in the last 12 hours. Surely it was only a coincidence, but her gut told her that something fishy was going on. She fiddled with the zipper of her bomber jacket. "Nice to see a familiar face", she murmured to Aziz as not to interrupt the teacher. "I'll bet", he responded as he faced the blackboard, scribbling something down on his paper. That was her cue to pay attention to the lesson.

"Before I begin class, we have a new student with us", the teacher announced. Suddenly all eyes were glued to her. "Would you care to introduce yourself?", the teacher asked her. ' _No, no I would not_ ', Amara thought. That was what she wanted to say, but that of course wasn't an option. Politeness and manners in Auradon were something that was of the utmost importance. Besides, it appeared that she was going to draw attention to herself whether she liked it or not, so there was no point in trying to avoid it.

She stood up and faced the class, sitting back down on her desk, hands in her lap. "My name's Amara, and as you all know, I _am_ from the Isle of the Lost. And before you guys ask why I my clothes aren't exactly Isle chic, Evie insisted on going shopping", Amara explained, earning a chuckle from a few of her classmates. While her ensemble was in no way, shape or form part of Auradon's pastel, bright colored glory, her clothes were cleaner and had _way_ less leather and chains than Isle clothes.

"Who are your parents?", asked a girl wearing a yellow sundress. Though Amara was slightly taken aback by this question, she immediately had a response. "Don't know, don't care", said Amara without batting an eye. As soon as the words left her lips, everyone's eyes were glued to her, astonishment filling them. "Wait, you're not serious, are you?", asked a dark haired boy with a baby blue polo and khakis. "Yeah, I'm being serious. I mean it's not like it's a big deal or anything. Kids get left out on the street all the time back home. It's not like we have a shortage of orphans over there", Amara said nonchalantly, causing the students' eyes to bug out of their heads. What truly troubled them was how indifferent she was being. This was _normal_ on the Isle?

"Alright, class. That's quite enough. You may take your seat Amara", the teacher said, turning back to the blackboard to begin her lesson. Amara could hear the whispers of her classmates as she focused on the blackboard. If the rest of her classes were like this, then she was going to have a _long_ day. The teacher began to ramble on about the lesson, and Amara paid attention as best she could, but her thoughts kept traveling back to her vision.

The ruins had to be that Blackborough place, and the room had to be somewhere located within the deteriorating castle, but real question was: how did the _cobra_ fit into all of this? Amara figured that she would find answers in the room. She decided that as soon as school was out, she'd go to Blackborough, and she'd find the answers that she needed.

* * *

Mal sat against a tree, the light of the afternoon sun shining in her face. School had ended about an hour ago and it was a fairly easy day, so her homework didn't take her more than half an hour, but the strange thing was that for some unknown reason, Remedial Goodness class was cancelled today and would be for the rest of the week, so she didn't have a chance to ask Amara about the images that she couldn't get away from, cursing herself for forgetting to ask her in Dragon Anatomy Class.

She'd had the weirdest dream last night. It was like a panorama of images, but only small snippets, a cobra being one of them. Her mind was elsewhere as she scribbled in her sketchbook, shading in the hood of the cobra that she was drawing. The hood was fully extended and fangs were bared, body recoiled as if about to strike. She sifted through the three unfinished drawings, and began adding to a drawing of a deteriorating castle. She figured that it had something to do with what was coming, whatever that may be. Amara definitely had something to do with these images, that much she was sure of.

"Hey Mal", Evie greeted as she walked up to the purple-haired girl. "Hey", Mal said absentmindedly, not taking her eyes off of her drawing. She felt a tug on her sketchbook as Evie bent down and stared down at her drawing. She shifted her gaze to Mal, her eyes containing a knowing look. "You too?", Evie asked. Mal gave a nod in her direction and then got back to work on the crumbling castle. "It's been driving me crazy all day. I can't get these images out of my head, no matter how freakin' hard I try", Mal ranted, sifting through the drawings to work on the last one, a dim room with a high ceiling filled with books and potions and herbs and anything else of the sort.

"Hey", Evie said, tapping Mal's shoulder. Mal looked up at her friend and followed where her chin had jerked towards, her curiosity and suspicion peaking as a familiar bomber jacket caught her eye. Amara stood off in the distance on the very edge of the Enchanted Forest, repeatedly glancing over either shoulder before taking off her boots and disappearing into the thicket. Evie and Mal locked eyes and shared a knowing look, nodding to each other as they knew what they had to do. Like Amara, they slipped off their combat boots and jogged after the mysterious girl. They had the feeling that whatever she was going to do, the images that Mal held in her sketchbook were somehow involved.

And so off they went. It had to have been at least twenty minutes before they lost her in the woods. "Damn it! Where could she have gone?", Mal ranted, a panting Evie next to her. "I'm not sure, but seriously, that chick is _fast_ ", Evie heaved a sigh from exhaustion.

"Well, now how are we supposed to find her?", Mal asked no one in particular. She thought about doing a tracking spell, but they didn't have anything of Amara's to use it on.

"We could use a teleportation spell", Evie suggested.

"How's that going to help us?", Mal asked, frustrated.

Evie flipped a few pages in Mal's sketchbook and then stopped at one particular drawing, pointing at it. "Because I think we know where she's going". Mal peered down at the drawing, and her eyes widened in realization. Of course! Amara was going to the old Blackborough ruins. It must've been to find that room with the books and the potions. "Do you remember the spell?", Evie asked. Surprisingly, Mal hadn't brought her spell book with her. It was kept in a magically sealed drawer in her room since the whole fiasco had started. She was getting antsy just thinking about how far away it was from her. "No, so we'll just have to make one up. Hold out your hands, E", Mal said. Doing as Mal requested, Evie held up her hands. Mal's hands came against Evie's as they began the incantation. Since they were enacting a spell together, a mental link would be opened up so that their magic would be in sync.

 _We call upon the Dragon's Fire_

 _Take us to the place that we desire_

 _To seek enlightenment for what is to come_

 _So that we may protect our home_

As soon as the chant was completed, Mal and Evie were blinded by a white light. A few seconds after their sight had returned to them, they found that they were on the very edge of the ruins, in between crumbling columns. "Where-", Mal began to ask before she was shushed by Evie, who pointed behind Mal. Her head whipped around only to be greeted by the sight of the very girl they sought, slipping on her boots. Thank the gods her back was to them. Not wanting to be seen, they quickly hid behind the columns. They heard the boots scrape against what was left of the stone floor. Amara had turned around. Mal and Evie heard a few steps being taken, before they heard an exhale. "You know, if you guys are going to follow me, at least do it discreetly".

* * *

The day couldn't've ended soon enough for Amara. As soon as it did, Amara jogged straight back to her room and prepared for her venture. She finished all of her homework in under 30 minutes. Surprisingly, her self-education had served her well. As she ran through the forest with the ground pricking at her feet, she found release. No matter how much effort she put into it, she could erase the faces of the shocked students from her mind each time she had to tell them that she was an orphan and how indifferent she sounded. She didn't understand why they were so shocked. Surely, they had to have at least known that parents, if you had them, weren't all happiness and rainbows back on the Isle of the Lost. Not having parents had never really bothered her before, and she wasn't about to let it start now. Those Auradon cupcakes could take their khakis and pretty sundresses and shove it.

On the bright side, she had three of her classes with Aziz, Chemistry with Evie, Dragon Anatomy with Mal and History of Woodsmen and Pirates with Carlos. It was nice to have familiar faces around, and they all made an effort to be nice to her, which she oddly was grateful for, and she found herself beginning to warm up to the VK's and had looked forward to having a class with all of them at once. Strangely enough, her Remedial Goodness class had been cancelled for the week, and her heart sank a bit with disappointment at not getting to see Jay, the most familiar face of them all, at least that's what she told herself.

Feeling the wind on her face as she ran with purpose helped her to focus on something else, to forget how she felt at their incredulous eyes if only for a little while. 20 minutes later, she found herself greeted by the sight of the familiar fountain in the middle of the veranda. Her eyes traveled up to the crumbling structures that used to be the roof on said veranda. It gave her a sense of pity and sorrow for this place. She began to imagine the place in its hay day. She imagined the fountain a pristine ivory color, an open spot of light amidst the shade of the veranda. She imagined the place once being open and inviting, and not covered with vines and moss and lichens and the place whole. Quickly, she shook her head to focus back on why she as here. She had seen this place in her dream, and not only that but a mysterious room. Given how dark and dim it was, it had to be underground, but where?

The sound of shuffling and rocks rolling was what jolted her away from the task at hand. In an effort to not give away that she knew someone was there, she bent down to slip on her boots, and out of the corner of her eye flashed specks of plum and blue hair. She exhaled, getting back up. She knew that it was too good to be true for them to trust her right away and that they'd leave her to her business, but then again, could she blame them for following her? "You know, if you guys are going to follow me, then at least do it discreetly", Amara said, turning around to face them, folding her arms across her chest.

Slowly but surely, Mal and Evie emerged from behind the crumbled columns, holding her gaze as they approached her. "And if you're going to go off on your own, then you should at least tell us what you're up to", Mal retorted.

"Look, I appreciate that you guys want to help, but I need to do this on my own. This doesn't involve you", Amara insisted. While she needed them to understand that she was doing what she was doing to try and prevent doom coming over Auradon, and granted it was nice to have a little bit of help from time to time, she wanted others to be as little involved as possible. The thought of others being put in danger because of her left a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. "On the contrary. Mal?", Evie prompted. Mal held out a sketchbook to Evie. She took the sketchbook and deposited it into Amara's waiting hands, pointing down to the drawing of the room. Amara's eyes widened as she flipped through the sketchbook seeing the exact replicas of her vision on paper.

"How, what the, how did you know about this?", Amara asked incredulously, looking up from the drawings.

"Evie and I dreamed these last night. It was like a grainy panorama almost", Mal said.

"Did you guys see or hear anything else?", Amara asked.

"No, why?", asked Evie, crossing her arms with a suspicious look in her eye.

"Because when _my_ vision began, I was surrounded by white. There was nothing above or below me, nor anything to the side. Just surrounded by the white nothingness. It was like I was nowhere", Amara answered. She wasn't quite sure if it was a wise idea to tell them about the voice. "But the real question is how this is even happening", Amara said to no one in particular, her thoughts going into overdrive.

"Maybe it has something to do with what happened last week", Evie suggested. Amara and Mal's eyes darted to the blue-haired girl, waiting for her to continue. "Think about it you guys. Maybe when we all touched Mal's spell book, it opened up a connection, but since we're only seeing snippets of Amara's visions, it must only be a small connection and what Amara sees is trickling only a little bit to our minds, so to speak", Evie mused, tapping her knuckle against her chin.

"So we _are_ involved", Mal confirmed, her gaze fixed on Amara. Amara's eyes held apprehension, but the other girls would have none of it. If Auradon was in danger, they _had_ to do something about it. "Look, you can't deny that the connection had to have opened up for a reason, and if that is the case then you can't keep us out of it. Like it or not, we know that you need help", Mal stated. Amara's gaze shifted down in contemplation, her teeth sinking into a tiny portion of her lip. She looked back up at the two girls, their arms folded across their chests in determination.

Amara couldn't deny what they had shown her. If they were seeing what she was seeing, then it must've been for a reason. But if anything bad happened to them, could she live with herself? Would Jay hate her? The thought of it all chilled her heart, but it appeared as though whether she liked it or not, people were going to get involved. Mal and Evie watched as her shoulders relaxed, her entire posture slumping as she caved. "Alright. You got me. But if anything happens", Amara began. "Nothing's going to happen. We're VK's, straight from the Isle of the Lost. We can handle ourselves", Mal said, attempting to reassure her.

Amara heaved an exasperated sigh. "So what are we looking for, secret entrance wise?", asked Evie.

"I'm not sure. It has to be inside the castle somewhere. Maybe behind a bookshelf, or maybe a tile on the floor opens it", Amara mused.

Mal nodded in understanding, and Evie strode with purpose across the threshold. She glanced back at the two girls in her wake. "Well, what are you two waiting for? Let's go storm the castle, shall we?".

Following suit, Mal and Amara crossed the threshold. Their steps echoed into the empty castle as they walked through the lobby, then into the grand room. They craned their necks to take in each room in all of its high-ceilinged glory, rays of light creeping through the cracks in the walls. Red leaves floated down through the large hole in the ceiling, which let the main source of light in. Vines and branches snaked all over the stone walls and around the support columns of the place. Amara ran her hands along the walls, and once again she found herself trying to imagine how this place used to be.

"What the heck?", Evie mumbled, bending down and using her hands to sweep the leaves from the floor, revealing lines of writing in an ancient language, and to top it all off, it didn't appear to be any language known to man. Just their luck.

"What is it?", Mal asked as she bent down to examine the intricately mysterious writing. Peering down at it, Amara bent down also to get a closer look. She ran her fingers over the indentions, thinking that maybe instead of getting a vision, she would get a feeling for what the writing was. Her efforts yielded nothing.

The girls tucked their feet under their bodies, standing up and patting themselves to dispel the dust that had collected on their clothes. "Well, this was a bust", Mal said, huffing in disappointment.

"Maybe not", Amara said, pulling out her phone, and snapping a photo of the intricate writing. "I mean, there has to be _somebody_ that knows how to read this".

Promptly after, Evie's phone buzzed. She pulled it out and it was lit up with a reminder, her eyes promptly widening in realization. "Crap! No no no, how could I have forgotten?!".

"What's wrong Evie?", asked Mal.

"The Planning Committee for the Heritage Festival is having a meeting in 30 minutes. Gah! It totally slipped my mind. I can't miss this! I'm head of the Committee! This is going to have to wait", Evie insisted. Mal slapped her palm to her head. While she wasn't on the actual Committee, she _was_ going to have a booth in the festival, so the meeting was mandatory for her, but she wanted to continue her search for answers with Amara and Evie. " Are you absolutely sure that we can't miss this?", Mal asked, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Not if I want to keep my position or if you want to have a booth in the festival", Evie insisted, crossing her arms. Clearly, she wasn't going to back down, not while she was in diva mode, and Mal had learned a long time ago that when Evie got like this, it was best to just go along with it.

"Evie's right. You guys should go to the meeting. It'll keep suspicion to a minimum", Amara said.

"But how are we even going to get back on time?", Mal countered.

"We could all just transport ourselves back", Amara suggested. They looked at her in surprise. "What do you mean _we_? You don't have anything to do. Why not stay here and do it without us?", asked Mal.

"Because I know you guys don't trust me enough to leave me on my own yet, which is understandable. Besides, I have a feeling that my roommate's going to be asking questions about where I am pretty soon. Like I said, it's best to keep suspicions from anyone to a minimum", Amara said. The statement contained no malice, she was merely stating a fact. The girls stared at her with astonishment, silenced by the truth in her words. A sense of guilt settled over them at how easily she had accepted their mistrust without even defending herself, but what unsettled them the most was how indifferent she sounded. There were no sneers or jabs or traces of bitterness in her words, only indifference. "Don't you guys have somewhere to be?", Amara asked, her indifference unsettling them once more.

Reluctantly, Mal and Evie began the incantation, each of them holding Amara's hands. Amara remained silent, the girls chanting fading into the background as she retreated into her thoughts. The writing captivated her, called to her for reasons that she couldn't explain. A fat load of good that did. She didn't understand one word of it, and she had no idea what purpose it served, but she did know one thing. The writing being on the ground was no accident, so it had to be a chant of some sort. Maybe it was a riddle?

Amara felt an abrupt tug in her gut as white light enveloped her. The next thing she knew, she and the others took a hard landing and tumbled onto a red and white surface, crashing into guys wearing blue jerseys. They had just landed in the middle of a tourney practice. Amara's magic must've made the spell unfocused since she wasn't part of the enactment. "Oof", Amara heard under her. She rolled over and saw that she had landed on a familiar skinny boy with white hair. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay?", Amara asked, scrambling off of Carlos and helping him up. "Yeah, I'm fine. The only thing bruised is my pride", he joked. Chuckling, Amara playfully shoved him.

"Hey! Watch where you fall! We're trying to practice here", snapped a boy with golden hair and full lips. Amara got up and helped the girls up, who were shooting death glares at the boy. Amara spotted Jay as he ran over to them, his hair clinging to the sides of his head with sweat. "What happened? Are you guys okay?", he asked, concern in his dark eyes.

"We're fine Jay", Mal and Evie reassured as they rolled their shoulders. His head immediately darted towards Amara. He closed the distance between them, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. "Are you okay? Is anything hurt?", Jay asked her gently. Amara was briefly frozen in her place by the concern in his dark eyes, but just as she was about to answer him…

"She's fine Jay. If anything _they_ all should be asking if _we're_ okay. They're the ones that crashed into us after all", the boy sneered.

"Chad, lay off", Jay said threateningly. He looked completely calm, which usually meant that someone was in for a major throttling. Amara placed her hand on Jay's shoulder to stop him.

"It's okay Jay. If Sunshine over here wants to be a prick because we ruined his oh-so-perfect haircut, then that's his problem". Amara turned to Chad. "And before you go blaming other people for ruining your _perfect_ day, try looking in the mirror. Although I'm sure you're an expert at that already", Amara scoffed at Chad.

"Ooh", chorused the team, and promptly after, guffaws and chuckles could be heard from the entire team. Chad suddenly became flustered, his cheeks flushing red as all eyes came on him, as his team laughed at him. In all honesty, he _was_ being a prick as per usual, but they were all just too used to his attitude to say something about it. Huffing, Chad stalked away, muttering about stupid VK's.

The four turned towards Amara, clearly impressed with how she handled the situation. "Dude, that was _awesome_! I mean did you see the look on Chad's face? _Priceless_!", Carlos raved, breaking into a laugh. Carlos's praise awakened a warm, unfamiliar feeling in Amara. Could it have been comradery, acceptance?

"What even happened, you guys?", asked Jay.

"Well", Mal began, "it started when Evie was freaking out about being late for a Heritage Festival meeting-"

"Oh crap! The meeting! I almost forgot! Come on Mal!", Evie shouted, yanking Mal's arm in her direction. Mal simply shrugged, rolling her eyes as the blue-haired girl dragged her along. "Have fun you two!", Amara called, smirking in Mal's direction.

"Alright you guys, let's run that again!", called the coach. Carlos said a quick goodbye and jogged back to his place on the field Jay glanced in the direction of the coach, then gave Amara an apologetic look. "Sorry, I've got to go", he said.

"No worries. I'll fill you in later", Amara said reassuringly. She began to chew on a tiny portion of her lip and glanced around the field. "What's up?", asked Jay, his curiosity peaking.

"Oh, nothing. Just, I mean- would it be okay if I stayed and watched? I'm curious to see what all the hype is about", Amara said.

"I wish you could, but it's a closed practice", Jay admitted regrettably. He could sense disappointment washing over her, and he hated to be the cause of it.

"That's okay. I wasn't really in the mood to see you get knocked flat on your butt anyway", Amara teased.

"Puh-lease. You should see the other team when they eat my dust", Jay said, smirking confidently.

"I'll have to see it to believe it. Back on the Isle, you could never keep up with me", she teased, countering his smirk with her own.

"Well, in that case, what do you say we make this interesting?" Jay asked, a challenge in his words.

"Oh. How so?", Amara asked, a playful glint in her eyes.

"Jay, get over here!", the coach called. Jay shrugged, disappointed at having to leave Amara.

"You'd better go. I don't want to get you in trouble", Amara said earnestly. She chewed in her lip again, and then released it.

"Meet me outside the student lounge tomorrow after school, then you could finish what you wanted to say", Amara suggested as she walked away.

"Yeah, see you then", Jay called as he jogged back to his place on the field. Throughout the rest of the practice, he felt as though there was a sort of renewed energy in him. He had always been good at tourney, there was no doubt about that, but today felt different, like he had somehow grown stronger, better. That was the only way he could describe how he felt after talking to Amara. He could think of nothing else but her as he walked back to his dorm. The thought of meeting her sent a spark of excitement into his heart, and that night, he could hardly sleep as he awaited the moment that he would see her again tomorrow.

* * *

"Why won't you let me pass?", asked Fairy Godmother, shining her lantern around to find the woman that the disembodied voice belonged to. " _Because it is not your place to do so_ ", the voice answered.

"So it is not my place to prevent Auradon's destruction?", Fairy Godmother snapped angrily. She had come to Castle Blackborough under the cover of night to find answers in the elusive long-lost Archives, at least she would if only she would be let in.

" _It is your place to guide those who_ will. _The destiny of protecting Auradon has been placed in the hands of another_ ", the voice answered calmly. "Who?", asked Fairy Godmother. She was met with only silence. Fairy Godmother was beginning to get irritated, but after a few more moments of silence, realization hit her like a stone. "Amara?", she whispered, almost wishing that it weren't true.

" _Yes. Do not fear, she will gain allies. She will not be alone, no matter how adamantly she tries to make it that way. She is fiercely loyal and protective. She will do what must be done. I could see from the moment she came from her mother's womb. That is why she was chosen_ ", the voice said.

"Who _is_ her mother?", Fairy Godmother asked, desperate for _any_ answers at all.

" _I believe you know the answer to that_ ", the voice said.

Fairy Godmother waited for an actual answer from the voice, but quickly realized that her attempts were futile, but her realization had brought upon another. "So my hunch was correct? She _is_ the Lost Princess of Agrabah?", asked Fairy Godmother. The silence of the voice had confirmed it to be true. If that was the case, then Fairy Godmother had to contact Aladdin and Jasmine right away.

" _They mustn't know_ ", the voice urged. Fairy Godmother suddenly became flustered at having her thoughts read, but knew that she should've expected that sort of thing with this woman. Nevertheless, she was flabbergasted by this answer. Every child needed their parents.

"They've spent the past 16 years without their daughter, whom by the way was a baby when she was _stolen_ from them under the cover of night. Don't you at least think that they deserve to know that their daughter is still _alive_? Don't you think at least _she_ deserves to know that there are people out there that miss her? That _love_ her?", Fairy Godmother exclaimed.

" _The time has not yet come for them to know the truth. You must let destiny unfold. Everything that Amara has endured has made her into what Auradon needs. You mustn't interfere. You must guide her. You must let her discover the Archives for herself. It is where she will find the answers that she seeks and needs to complete her destiny. Do not interfere",_ the woman's voice urged. Fairy Godmother stood in silence as she felt the presence leave her.

Exasperated, she marched out of the ruins, her inner conflict taking hold of her. How exactly was it that she was supposed to sit back and let an inexperienced teenager be the protector of Auradon? Especially when said teenager was the lost princess of an entire nation? She didn't know how much longer she could bear the weight of the secrets, of the knowledge that she now held. How she could she lie to her students and to their parents? How could she look any of them in the eye without being reminded of the secrets that she was keeping? How could she not warn them?

Easy. The answer was that she was doing her part to protect Auradon after what had happened 20 years ago. Fairy Godmother shuddered at the memories and didn't wish to relive them nor did she wish to repeat them. With that in mind, she marched back to the home that she so dearly loved, praying with everything she had that destiny would prevail and that Amara was up to the task, because if not, Auradon would soon be but a distant memory.


	12. One Question

**Hello fellow FanFiction readers. I apologize for the extremely late update, but if you only knew how many times I'd rewritten this chapter. The things we do for our stories. Anywho, to compensate for the long wait, this chapter is nearly 7000 words long so I hope you enjoy. This is the chapter when Jay and Amara's relationship is opened up a little bit and it'll be explored more in the next few chapters so I hope y'all enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

Evie lay awake in her bed that night, contemplating the day's events, the sound of a lightly snoring Mal beside her. Thankfully, she and Mal were able to get to the meeting on time. Everything went swimmingly and according to plan, and not even Audrey could comment on anything that might've gone wrong. Doug was present at the meeting since his jazz band was going to perform. Much to Evie's dismay, Doug's shy demeanor with her, as of late, had shown up tonight. Evie didn't understand why. When they had first met, he had practically _admitted_ that he had been stalking her, but now, lately he could barely say two words to her. He had reassured her over and over that he was fine, but something still seemed off to Evie.

Maybe he had lost interest in her. Maybe he was too polite to say it to her face, but if that even _was_ what he was going to do, then wouldn't he at least have let her down gently by now? She decided that she needed to focus on something else because if she didn't, then she'd dwell on it for the rest of the night and surely drive her friends crazy, but compared to the other things she could think about, boys were the least stressful topic.

Maybe she was being a bit melodramatic, but contemplating your role in preventing the destruction of the only true home that you've ever known tended to shift your perspective a little bit. While Evie wanted to help save Auradon from its destruction, she also didn't want to miss out on it and wanted to immerse herself in Auradon's wonder and light and festivities. She wanted to experience what life had to offer and what all was out there just in case something happened to her in helping prevent Auradon's destruction, but the more she thought about it, the guiltier she felt. The fate of Auradon was apparently hanging in the balance, and all she could think about was whether or not a boy liked her.

The whole thing almost made her sick to her stomach, but if she was going to help save Auradon, then she had to just move on, do what had to be done and suck it up. With that in mind, she closed her eyes, eventually falling to sleep and forgetting about yesterday's worries.

* * *

History of Woodsman and Pirates class was outside that day, Mr. Hunter regaling the class with tales of woodsman long before his time and touching on the profession. It was her last class of the day, and Amara was anxious for it to be over so that she could meet Jay. She'd always had a keen sense of curiosity, and this particular thing had been eating away at her since yesterday. As class let out, they all walked back to the school, the thought of the meeting on Amara's mind. She told herself over and over again that it was strictly business, that she had to go and hear what Jay had to tell her. At least she wasn't _completely_ lying to herself this time.

On the other hand, she didn't exactly specify what exactly this was, and she didn't want to send him any signals that would allow their relationship to grow stronger in case something happened to her, because let's face it, when tasked with preventing the destruction of Auradon when magic would most definitely involved, there were bound to be casualties.

She knew in her heart that she wouldn't be able to leave Jay a second time, but if her destiny entailed sacrificing herself for the good of everyone else, she wouldn't be able to refuse. But at the same time, she felt as though wanted as much time with him as possible, to tell him that she was sorry for everything and maybe explore their relationship. Gah! What was she thinking? She wasn't just some enamored school girl that swooned at the drop of a hat. Why was she suddenly having these thoughts? ' _Maybe because now it's a possibility_ ', she thought to herself. "You okay?", a familiar voice asked, jolting her from her thoughts. She turned her head to see that it was Carlos, an inquisitive look in his eyes.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm just going to meet Jay. He said he has something he wants to make interesting", she rambled on to Carlos. Upon hearing this, his features melted into a secretive smirk as his eyes dropped from her gaze. "What?", asked Amara, her curiosity now peaked. "What? Oh, nothing. Nothing at all", Carlos said, his wide eyes feigning innocence. "Carlos De Vil, what are you hiding?", Amara asked in a mock-scolding voice. "Oh, would you look at the time? Gotta go, bye!", he called as he scurried away to some unknown destination. She decided to deal with it later. Carlos wanted to keep secrets that involved her somehow? That was fine, she'd get it out of him sooner or later. Sure, Carlos De Vil was quick on his feet, but she was quicker.

The sight of the school jolted her out of her frustration. She quickly focused on getting to the Student Lounge, but what she saw next threw her slightly off-guard. The lockers came into her view, girls swarming the railing, and Jay was right in the middle of it. Amara stopped in her tracks at seeing him surrounded by so many girls. She felt her breath catch. Jay appeared to be enjoying the attention that the girls were giving him, sending a twinge of a feeling in her chest that Amara couldn't place. Was it _jealousy_? She didn't know, nor did she have a right to be jealous. Jay could hang out with whomever he wanted, but oddly enough, she found that she couldn't help herself. As soon as Jay looked up from the sea of girls, their eyes locked. Reassurance immediately washed over her as Jay's warm smile made an appearance.

As she got closer, Jay appeared to say goodbye to the girls before finally breaking away from them. "Hey", he greeted as he jogged up to her. "Hey", she greeted back, giving him a brief hug.

"So you've finally managed to get away from your fan group, huh? Thought you'd flake on me?", she asked teasingly, poking him in the side.

"Why such the low opinion of me, huh?", he shot back in the same manner, nudging her playfully with his hip as they walked.

"Okay. So what was it you wanted to tell me?", Amara asked, cutting straight to the point.

"You mean after you flashed into my tourney practice unannounced? By the way, how did that happen?", Jay asked, turning the conversation back to her.

"Oh, _now_ I see what this was all about. You just wanted to get some information out of me. Slick move", she said, her lips contorted into a teasing smirk.

"Well Shadow, if I told you I wanted to know said information beforehand, then you wouldn't've agreed to this, now would you?", Jay asked, crossing his arms and smirking triumphantly. Okay, he had a point there. If he had asked her outright what had happened and she wasn't planning on voluntarily telling him herself, then she probably would've felt cornered and flaked.

"Fair point", she conceded. "How about you tell me yours and then I'll tell you mine?", Amara suggested as they resumed walking.

"How about the other way around? You know that _I'll_ always tell you what's going on", Jay said. Though she could sense that he hadn't meant to, he'd struck a nerve. Did he not trust her? Did he not know that she'd always confide in him no matter how much time that they had spent apart? She decided not to dwell on it, determined to remind him that he could always count on her.

"Alright. The night before last night, I had a vision. Those old Blackborough ruins were in it, along with a secret room. I was going to go alone. I thought that I was when I got there, but I heard a flash, and then I realized that Mal and Evie followed me", Amara explained, unsure of why she decided to leave out the part about the cobra.

"Wait a second, they _followed_ you?", Jay asked incredulously, finding himself a bit peeved.

"I understand why they did it Jay. They don't know me and I was going off on my own into the woods. I'd actually be surprised if they didn't follow me", Amara said, attempting to placate the slightly provoked teen. "And on the bright side, we ended up finding something. We can't understand it, but at least it's _something_ ", Amara said.

"What was it?", asked Jay.

"Some ancient writing. It isn't like anything that I've ever seen, and I've read a _lot_ of language books", she said. She pulled out her phone and found the picture that she had taken. "Here", she said, handing him the phone. Jay proceeded to examine the picture. He was bombarded with conflicting emotions the second that his eyes found the writing. He was positive that he had never seen this language in his entire life, but at the same time, the familiarity he felt towards the language was so strong and tangible that he felt as though he could reach out and touch it.

"Is everything okay?", asked Amara, noting his scrutinizing gaze.

"Huh? Oh yeah, everything's fine. The writing just looks familiar. Maybe my father had it lying around in his shop somewhere", Jay said, trying to play off the concern that was no doubt on his face. Amara decided not to grill him on the matter, but she'd be lying if she said that it wasn't going to gnaw at her. Something was _definitely_ going on, that much she knew.

Jay didn't understand why some ancient writing he had never seen before was calling to him so strongly that he almost felt as though he was being yanked towards it. Maybe it had something to do with what was happening to him. Thankfully, his reptilian traits hadn't been surfacing as frequently lately, but he wouldn't put it past his strange situation to be linked to what was happening around him. "You found this in the old Blackborough ruins?", Jay asked for clarification. Amara gave him a nod of her head, and with that, uneasiness settled into his heart.

"Yeah, I did. Jay, are you sure everything's okay?", Amara asked, bringing the attention back to him, a concerned hand resting itself on his shoulder.

"I'm fine", Jay insisted unconvincingly, handing her phone back to her. Amara wasn't convinced in the slightest. His response only further confirmed her hunch that Jay was hiding something. As to what that something was, she intended to find out, but for now, she decided to let the matter drop and move onto other things.

"Alright, your turn. What are we making interesting?", Amara asked, folding her arms across her chest, her lips contorted into a triumphant smirk. Jay could feel a smile forming on his face, impressed that she had remembered. He had waited anxiously since yesterday for this moment. He'd have been lying if he said that his nerves hadn't begun to bubble up inside of him, but quickly he reminded himself that there was nothing he had to worry about. It was Amara, he could tell her anything. "Ah, well, as you probably already know, the tourney game is this Friday. I remember you thinking that I'm going to get knocked flat on my ass", Jay said, as if his reaction to seeing the writing hadn't happened at all.

"Good memory", Amara teased, her tone almost sounding flirtatious. Jay smiled at her teasing.

"I aim to please Shadow", he said flirtatiously, throwing a wink in her direction. "Anyway, seeing as you and I have very different opinions on what's going to happen, I propose we make it interesting", Jay said. Amara's eyebrows rose with question, prompting Jay to continue.

"If our team loses, I will owe you a favor, anything of your choice", Jay offered. Amara's eyes became downcast, considering this proposal. She appeared to be genuinely interested. "And if you guys win?", she asked.

"If we win, I get to ask you one question, and you have to answer it", Jay said.

"That depends. What _is_ the question?", Amara asked.

"You'll just have to wait and see for yourself, Shadow", Jay answered, wearing a triumphant smirk.

Amara was slightly taken aback by this. Usually, Jay was so quick to tell her everything. He'd never held out on her before, which made this all the more intriguing. "Must you keep me on my toes?", she asked playfully.

"How else would it be fun?", Jay said, answering her question with a question. "So do we have a deal, Shadow?", he asked.

Amara appeared to mull over this for a moment. She recalled Carlos's secretiveness when he knew that she and Jay were going to meet. She'd be lying if she said that she wasn't a bit wary of Jay's question. She didn't know what it could possibly be, but it was Jay. He'd never do anything to harm her. She trusted him. "Deal", Amara said, Jay's warm hand closing around hers as they shook on their bet.

"I'll see you on Friday. Keep a look out for #8", he said, his grin filling her with warmth, his hand slipping from around hers as he walked away. As she watched him walk away, the warm feeling stayed. She didn't understand why it was there, once again questioning these unfamiliar sensations. Did she, dare she say, have feelings for him? Even after only being here for a month, most of that time being spent in a cell? It wasn't a totally outrageous notion, after all she _had_ wanted to explore their relationship more, but the question was: would she be able to? What with her destiny and all, if they were to be in a relationship, how long would it last? _'Okay, cool it Amara. You don't even know if Jay even has feelings for you. You don't want to freak him out'_ , she thought to herself.

As her bag was slipping off of her shoulder, she slung it over once more and headed into the Student Lounge to get a cup of coffee. Once she got her drink, the door chimed as she exited. Plastered all over the walls were flyers yet again talking about the Heritage Festival. What could possibly be so great about it that it had to throw up on literally every wall of the school? Then she remembered Evie telling her something about it. It was an entire day dedicated to the celebration of the culture and history of Auradon, of each prince and princess's family history. It was a night that celebrated where you came from, and what your story would be in the future, some spiel like that. Everyone had to dress as something pertaining to their parents or to the festival in some way, so she knew she was bound to see some pretty interesting costumes, mainly what people wore back in the old days, but with a twist as Evie put it. It was almost like what people in other countries, such as America, called Renaissance Faires. All throughout the day, different booths would offer different things. For example, Mal's booth would feature caricatures and Jordan's tent would feature a crystal ball with their fortunes getting told and also different 'ingredients' for potions would be sold. It was all purely in good fun. Not only did the whole school go, but all of Auradon City would be there as well, and when night finally fell, that was when the actual ball would commence, and everyone would immediately be turned into princes and princesses, kind of like what happened to Cinderella.

Out of the corner of her eye, she was brought out of her thoughts by the sight of Evie marching to a bench, the staccato click of her heels coming to a stop as she sat down, her entire composure rigid, the blue-haired princess looking rather frustrated. Instinctively, Amara walked over to her to see what was wrong.

"Hey Evie", Amara greeted.

"Hey. What's up?", Evie asked dejectedly, her head slightly drooping.

"You looked like you were about ready to witch-slap someone, and now you just look deflated. Is everything okay?", Amara asked. The corner of Evie's lip quirked up ever-so-slightly, and then drooped back down. "If I tell you what's wrong, you're going to think that I'm either the most selfish or the wimpiest person that ever lived", Evie said honestly.

"Try me, Beauty Queen", Amara retorted. Evie smiled at her newly given nickname, then leaned forward to answer.

"Doug still hasn't asked me to the Heritage Festival, okay? How selfish do I have to be for _that_ to be what I'm focusing on? I mean seriously, how can it be that the only thing I can think about is the stupid Heritage Festival?", Evie asked.

Though Amara hadn't known Evie long, hearing her call an important Auradon event _stupid_ sent up warning signs to her. Hearing the dejection in Evie's voice sent a twinge of an unknown feeling in Amara's heart. Was it sympathy? Empathy? Whatever it was, it was accompanied by the need to reassure Evie, to make her feel better. "The fact that you're beating yourself up over it proves that you aren't. I mean, it's understandable that you want to be thinking about something else other than, ahem, certain _responsibilities_ at the moment", Amara said, trying to make Evie feel better, and she did understand. Helping save Auradon would be no easy task, and who wouldn't want to experience as much of this place as possible?

"And besides, from what I've heard from the other people at this school, Doug absolutely adores you. I bet he's either scrambling to find the right way to ask you, or he already has and is just afraid that he'll spoil the surprise", Amara offered.

"But still, don't you think he would've asked me to the ball by now?", Evie asked.

"I think when the right time comes, everything will work out", Amara answered. Evie appeared to mull over this for a bit, then nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I guess you're right. If he doesn't ask me, I can just go with my friends if it comes down to it", she declared with a satisfied smile. "And besides, we need to study for that Chemistry test tomorrow. I've got more important things to worry about than boys. Wanna come with?", she asked. Once again, Amara found herself taken aback. Evie actually trusted her enough to be _alone_ with her? She quickly reminded herself that she'd need allies, and maybe spending time with Evie would help with that. When Amara finally nodded 'yes', Evie had the largest grin that Amara had ever seen. She wasn't exactly sure why Evie appeared to be that happy, maybe it was because she'd had a reminder that she was a strong independent woman.

As she slung her bag over her shoulder, she caught sight of ghost white hair that was black at the roots. Carlos was fiddling around his locker for something, extending his feet to give himself some extra height. "Evie, you go on ahead, I'll meet you there", Amara said. After Evie left, Amara's gaze shifted back to Carlos. He reached into his locker and finally found what he was looking for. He was hunched over slightly to conceal the object from other's view. Amara squinted at the De Vil boy to get a better view of what he was hiding. With her heightened senses, she could easily pick it up. It appeared to be a small wooden box. Amara cocked her head to one side in confusion. What would Carlos be doing with a small wooden box? Once he opened it, she had her answer.

Inside the box was a pure white flower, the soft petals a rounded shape. The sweet aroma of the flower pleasantly wafted itself into Amara's nose. The flower was a gardenia. Carlos quickly closed the box as a girl stopped in the pathway of his locker, talking to a friend. Everything about her screamed innocence and purity. Carlos had chosen the flower well. The girl had short chocolate brown hair, baby blue eyes, a cute nose and small, pouty lips. She wore a light blue dress with a cardigan the same color. The bow that she wore in her hair was the same light shade of blue as the rest of her ensemble, her 2-inch heels matching as well. The girl had a shy demeanor about her, something that Amara pitied. Where she grew up, if you showed the tiniest amount of weakness, you got eaten alive.

When Amara caught the girl's name in the conversation she was having, everything made sense to her. The girl was Jane, the Fairy Godmother's daughter. Carlos looked from the box to her and then back to the box several times. ' _Oh my God. He's going to ask her to the Heritage Festival'_ , Amara thought to herself, watching and wondering how this scene would unfold. Once he finally stopped, he stared down at the ground dejectedly and slid the box back into his locker. What? No, no, no, no. No one has a flower that beautiful, no one has a gesture that sweet and lets it go to waste. How could he not think that he had a chance with her?

Sure Carlos was a VK, but from getting to know him these past few weeks, Amara knew that Carlos was a sweet, funny guy. Jane would be lucky to go out with him. ' _Maybe he just needs a little confidence boost_ ', Amara thought to herself, and it was then that an idea was hatched in her mind. She set down her bag and got out a piece of paper from her folder. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, she whispered into the piece of paper, to which words began to form on said piece of paper. Once her message to Carlos was finished, she folding the piece of paper and willed it to appear in Carlos's hands. When the note disappeared in a puff of smoke, she turned around to make sure that Carlos got the message.

A few seconds later, the note reappeared in Carlos's hands in a puff of smoke. Slightly startled, Carlos stared at the note in confusion. He looked around, his eyes searching for the mysterious sender of the note, and when his eyes locked with Amara's it was then that he had his answer. Giving the De Vil boy a single nod, Amara made her way to meet Evie. As she marched to the Chemistry Lab, Amara found herself glad that she'd helped Carlos and Evie in some way, and then she was confused as to why. Why had she been making conversation with Evie? Why was she trying to make her feel better? Why was she trying to help Carlos? Why was it her instinct to do so? And shouldn't she be focused on getting closer to finding out what her destiny was and how she was supposed to save Auradon?

Should she even be getting close to people? She knew that she had to have allies, but should they be more than just business partners? Should she form actual relationships with them? But then, if she did and she were ever to lose those relationships, if they were ever to perish because of her, that just wasn't something she could accept.

* * *

The rest of the week came and went, and Friday had finally arrived. The week had gone terribly slow for both Jay and Amara, all because of the bet that they had. Amara had to admit that not knowing what the outcome of this certain proposition would be was a bit unnerving, and she'd had to remind herself for the millionth time that week that Jay would never do anything to hurt her or break her trust, but still, what could it be? That's what was precisely going through her mind as she, Mal, and Evie took their place in the stands. Oddly enough, Ben had reserved them seats three rows up from the bottom. Amara chalked the reason down to one thing: that he had something big planned but didn't want to make it too obvious by putting them in the very front. Mal and Evie thought little of it, but Amara's skeptical mind got the better of her. She tripped nearly three times in the high-heeled boots that Evie lent her. She was bound to fall from the rickety wooden stands at some point today.

Unconsciously, she found herself searching for Jay. Where could he be? Was he still in the locker rooms with the team? Were they warming up? Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the team walk out, and one of the players rose up his stick, a promise of victory against the Agrabah Sultans, a promise of making it into the Playoffs apparently. What stood out to her was his long, dark hair that spilled from under his helmet and the triumphant smirk that the player wore, along with a large #8 emblazoned on the back of his jersey. Jay. Instantly, she relaxed.

She picked out a few other faces in the team that she could recognize. There was Aziz, looking as calm and collected as ever and then there was Chad, looking as pompous as ever. She shook her annoyance away as she focused on the game. Players from either team were scattered all across the field. She heard a whistle being blown, and that was when she knew that the game had officially begun. The ball was passed back and forth to each player using wooden sticks with rounded ends. Someone from the opposing team would steal it, then someone from the Fighting Knights would steal it back. The player that stuck out most to her was Aziz, 11 was his number. She wasn't surprised at his swiftness, at how sure-footed he was. He had clearly taken after his father, Aladdin. She began wonder how much of his mother he inherited.

She didn't understand why, but the thought of Aziz's parents brought an unbidden sense of longing. She quickly shook her head to dispel the emotions going through her. Why had she felt a sense of longing, a sense of familiarity at the thought of Aziz's parents? That seemed to be the million-dollar-question: why? "Hey", Evie said, nudging her and jolting her out of her thoughts. "Jay's about to go out", she said, a teasing smirk playing on her full lips. Amara looked to the field, the Fighting Knights breaking from a team huddle, filing out and into their place, getting set.

She watched as Jay took his place, pure determination in the way that he held himself. He stared straight ahead, and when the whistle finally blew, he was a blur. The other team could never catch up to him. Goal after goal he scored, he was unstoppable. What surprised her the most, was that he was actually _relying_ on his teammates. Back on the Isle, he never let himself rely on anyone other than himself; he wouldn't even rely on her at first, understandably because that was what he had been taught all his life. Now, he was perfectly in sync with the people around him. He appeared to be the most in sync with Aziz. It made sense. Aziz was the only one who could keep up with him.

Finally, the fourth quarter approached. Jay has his eye on the ball. He was so focused on it and getting it to Ben, that he lost sight of what was going on around him. One of the offensive players from the Agrabah Sultans gets low and is able to flip him over. His head is the first thing to hit the ground. It bounces off of the ground before his entire body comes down, lying flat on the field. Amara felt a pang of anxiety and fear in her chest at the sight. Was he going to be okay? Did he have a concussion? After about two seconds, Aziz jogged over and offered a hand, and he was able to get right back up, no thanks to the other team, who just appeared to be standing there, watching him with a cool, calculating gaze. Assholes.

Amara noticed that after he stood, he appeared to be trembling slightly. Maybe to anyone else's eyes, he was merely taking a few seconds to recuperate, but Amara saw something else. Her sharpened vision picked up his nearly imperceptible body language from afar. He was angry, no, he was _furious_ , but it appeared to be more than just that. From his clenched fists, the veins popping out of his neck and the slow deep breaths that he was taking, he was trying to calm himself down. He was trying to _control_ something.

She could see his gaze slowly traveling up. The second his eyes locked with hers, he instantaneously relaxed, his fists coming unclenched and his shoulders coming back down to their normal place. What was that all about? Amara had the feeling that she was the only one that noticed. After his teammates and coaches checked to make sure he was okay, he was back in the game, much to the dismay of the other team. Amara felt herself smiling at Jay's resilience. It would take a lot more than a hit to the head to take him down.

Since the other team was penalized for what happened to Jay, the point went to the Fighting Knights and now at the last few minutes in the game, it had come down to a tie. Amara watched as not only Jay scrutinized the opposing team, on his guard now more than ever, but Aziz watched the opposing team like a hawk. It was actually kind of interesting to watch. This team was from his homeland after all. Just the fact that he helped Jay up in the first place, even though he was the son of his family's enemy, intrigued her. Even more so, he did it without hesitation. She watched as the Fighting Knights filed back into their positions, their minds clearly set on victory after the other team went after one of their own.

* * *

As soon as he caught sight of Amara, Jay felt the same renewed sense of energy that he had when she had flashed into tourney practice not a few days earlier. He felt as though nothing could bring him down. Due to his new sense of hearing, the sounds around him were amplified, but luckily, the padding in his helmet muffled most of the sounds, so it was nothing more than a bit disorientating to him, nothing he couldn't handle. He had been doing swimmingly the entire game, but it was finally when one of the opposing team members purposefully flipped him over that he landed on his head.

Black spots danced in his vision for a few brief seconds after the guy on the other team had flipped him over. Coach had contemplated having him sit this game out, given where they were from and that his father wasn't exactly their favorite person, but Jay refused to back down. He was not afraid to face people who had prejudice against him because of what his father did. He could handle it, but after that fall, it took everything in him not to throttle that guy. "Guess you aren't as slick as your father", the guy said snidely as he walked back to his team. "And yet you're the one that got a penalty for your team", Jay retorted tightly, clutching his helmet as his head throbbed. The team chuckled at this. They thought that they weren't going to get in trouble for what they had done, because his father was a villain.

"Dude, you okay?", asked a familiar voice. He recognized it as Aziz, and was confirmed as he helped Jay up. That was all the help he allowed himself as he felt his eyes grow warm and the skin on the inside of his forearms tighten. He backed away from Aziz slightly, disguising it as dizziness and trying to recuperate. He knew that he had to relax soon, or else Allah-knows-what could happen. As his head swayed of its own accord, he briefly caught sight of the crowd. It was strange, but it was as if his brain had switched everything to super high-definition.

Everything was sharper, clearer. He found that he could pick out each individual face in the crowd, but when his gaze fell on Amara, it was only then that he could feel himself beginning to calm down. "Yeah, I'm good", he answered finally, the throbbing in his head gone. His self-healing was proving to be very useful in this situation. Adjusting his helmet, he clutched his stick and raised his chin, focusing as he took his place on the field. He would not allow his anger and frustration to surface, and the fact that they were all from Agrabah, the place where his father was the most hated villain of them all, made it all the more imperative that he not give them the satisfaction of proving them right, that he was _just_ like his father. He would prove them wrong.

As he took his place, a player from the opposing team stared at him like he was scum on the bottom of their shoe. Jay paid it no mind, it would distract him from the task at hand. He noted the guy's intense stare as he got into position, trying to intimidate him. While Jay wouldn't give them the satisfaction of making him lose his cool, he would not be intimidated by these guys. ' _Seriously?_ Them _intimidate_ me? _Don't make me laugh',_ Jay scoffed internally. Had they forgotten where he was from? He met the guy's stare with one of his own, and his was no less intense.

"Well, what are you waiting for, _snake_? Strike at me", the guy spat, a pompous smirk forming on his face. Jay had to remind himself a billion times in that brief second that this guy didn't _actually_ know what was happening to him, just that he was merely alluding to his father's symbol. He forced himself to keep his cool, but he felt his anger bubbling up inside. How dare he? When this dude had absolutely _no_ idea what was going on with him, when this guy didn't even _know_ him? He knew that he had to calm down, but he also knew that his anger wasn't going anywhere. How was he going to relieve himself of it?

He felt the sounds around him become muffled as he took a deep breath and let all other distractions melt away. He decided that if he couldn't force his anger down, he would channel it, focus it and use it to his advantage. As soon as the sound of the whistle pierced his ears, the ball was up in the air. He caught it before the other guy had a chance to register what was happening. With the ball in his possession, he agily made it through the kill zone. Over the course of three seconds after that, he sensed someone coming at him. The crazy thing was, he didn't even see who, but it was as though his nerve endings had extended from his skin, acting like a cat's whiskers.

He passed the ball to Carlos just as the person was coming up on him, and the second he turned around to see said person, one of his teammates was there to block him. Imagine his surprise when he saw that it was Aziz. Maybe it was just a small thing in the eyes of others, but take into perspective the fact that the opposing team came from Aziz's home country, the fact that Aziz was the son of his father's enemy, and the fact that Aziz was defending _him_ from his own home country in a sense, and you have one baffled and slightly taken aback VK. It was only a few seconds he stayed in his astonished stupor before snapping back to focus. He snaked out of the way of an oncoming player, who then careened into one of his fellow teammates, much to the Fighting Knight's amusement. Nevertheless, Jay focused.

Surefooted, he quickly made his way over to the goal, Carlos having passed the ball to Ben, or at least it would've gone to Ben had the ball not been stolen. There was 30 seconds left on the clock. The Fighting Knights had time to get it back. The ball had been stolen by #5 of the Agrabah Sultans, the one who flipped him over, who then passed it to #9 as they ran across the field to their goal. Having made it through the kill zone, they were just a few yards shy of victory, alas the ball was stolen by Carlos. _20 seconds_.

Making it back through the kill zone, he passed it to Aziz. _15 seconds_. Aziz's feet barely touched the ground. It appeared as though he was flying. Aziz gave a look to Jay that clearly stated his intent as he passed the ball to Jay. _10 seconds_. The goal was clear as day as Jay focused on it, but not so much as to lose sight of what was around him. #5 was running straight towards him, charging straight at him. Completely stopping #5 wasn't the right way to go, so Jay decided to use #5's speed against him, and in that split second, he made the decision to do something that rarely ever worked in the tourney world, but he sure as hell was going to try today. _7 seconds._

From then on, it was as if everything went into slow motion. The split second before #5 got to him, Jay launched the ball straight up into the air. He briskly glided past #5, pushing him into the direction he was already going. _5 seconds._ Just before the ball hit the ground, Jay caught it in his stick. _3 seconds._ Jay hit the ball as hard as he could into the goal, the ball practically becoming a projectile weapon with how hard it was hit. _1 second_. The goalie moves to catch it, but the ball hits the back of the net without a moment to spare.

The game was won.

Jay's heart soared with relief as the fan screamed in elation. The team had won the game. They were going to the Playoffs, but more importantly, he had won the bet. He could ask Amara his question. All of his elation in that moment was replaced with nerves as he realized fully what that meant. He could ask her his question. _Shit_. Everything that could've gone wrong went through his mind as he and the team made their way to the stands to receive victory praise from the audience. Today, he ventured a bit closer than normal, his eyes searching the stands, hoping to catch a glimpse of Amara.

It wasn't that hard to find her. She, Evie and Mal stood three rows up from the front as to get a good view. She wore a lavender-colored top and her signature black bomber jacket. Jay wasn't surprised that Ben had them sit there, what with all that he had planned for today. For a few brief seconds, he and Amara locked eyes. Amara gave him a nod and a warm smile as she cheered him on, clapping for him in the process. The crowd suddenly began to surge forward to meet the players and congratulate them on their victory, the stands literally shaking.

Jay's eyes never left Amara. One moment, Amara was cheering him on, the next minute, she was wobbling on the rickety stands as the crowds abrupt movements caused the stands to vibrate. Jay could see her feet wobbling in the stands. She was on the very edge, she was about to take a wrong step and fall, which is exactly what happened. He heard a single gasp escape her as she fell. Everything else was a blur. All he knew was that Amara was falling. In one swift move, he was able to get to her. His arms wrapped securely around her waist as she fell against him, her arms having wrapped themselves around her shoulders to steady herself.

"Shadow, you okay?", he asked as he craned his neck to look her in the eye.

"Yeah. I should've known these boots would turn on me", she chuckled sardonically, earning one from Jay as well. She gripped his shoulders a bit tighter as she regained her footing. As her eyes remained downcast, Jay's still tried to meet hers. Finally after she regained her footing, her gaze shifted up to meet his, and the second that that happened, everything else faded away into back ground noise. The Gods know how long they stayed like that.

"Well, we won the game", Jay reminded her, a smirk forming on his face, snapping her out of her trance.

"Well, Jay Khuldjan, for one question, I am at your mercy", Amara retorted, her voice low, her tone sensuous. For a brief moment, his gaze shifted downward, as if contemplating something, biting a microscopic portion of his lip. He feared that she'd say no. He honestly thought about chickening out. ' _Whoa, whoa, whoa. Bro, what is_ wrong _with you? Backing down is_ not _an option. Pull yourself together_ ', his inner voice told him. Slowly his gaze shifted back up as his confidence could do this. He was going to ask her.

Amara eagerly awaited his question as his eyes slowly met hers once more. For a few seconds, she was lost in the depth of his dark eyes. Quickly, she snapped herself out of it, she would've missed his question, however she had become distracted by the sudden close proximity of his lips to her ear, his warm breath on her neck as he spoke. She was in no way prepared for what came out of his mouth next, as he whispered his question in her ear:

"Will you be my date to the Heritage Festival?".


	13. The Door

**Chapter 12**

 _ **Carlos, I'm not sure how to put this, so I'm just going to be straight with you. Quit acting like a pansy and ask Jane to the Heritage Festival already! I can tell that you like her, so my advice to you is to just to tell her how you feel and keep it simple. The key is to have confidence. This probably sounds like the most cliché Auradonian thing that you've ever heard, but I think these people might be actually on to something. I'm not going to wish you luck because you don't need it. You're sweet and funny and chivalrous. You have all of the qualities that you need. Use them.**_

 _ **~Amara**_

* * *

Carlos couldn't remember the last time his heart pounded this hard, maybe because it had _never_ pounded this hard. Then again, he'd never had a girl that he had a crush on before. His hands trembled as he raised the box in front of his face. He'd asked Doug to hold it for him until the game was over. He opened the box just a crack so that no one would see what was inside. He breathed a sigh of relief as he closed the box. The flower was still intact, not a dent in it.

He let out a shaky breath as he stared at the box, deciding what he would do with it. He'd put this off the entire week, chickening out anytime Jane came near. He began to search for her in the crowd, and when he finally found her, his heart threatened to beat out of his chest. He felt his palms become cold and clammy as he watched her remove her mascot armor. He looked down at the box, then back at her. Could he really do this? He opened the box once more, a little more than he had a few moments ago, and out popped the edge of a piece of paper. Carlos pulled it out to examine it.

It was Amara's note. He had tucked it into the side when he had finished reading it. Staring down at it, without even having to read it a second time, filled him with the confidence that it spoke of. He hadn't even known Amara that long, but just the fact that even she believed in him enough to make this gesture gave him the confidence boost that he needed. He could do this, he _would_ do this. It was now or never. Exhaling a breath, he marched over to the Fairy Godmother's daughter, his strides filled with purpose. He'd be lying if he said his hand wasn't trembling as he reached up to touch Jane's shoulder as to get her attention. His fingertips barely brushed against her shoulder, and she whipped her head around at the contact, her eyes widening at seeing the De Vil boy.

"Carlos, h- hi. Um, what", she stuttered as she knocked over a piece of her mascot armor. Her face turned bright red as a tomato. Flustered, she began to babble apologies as she frantically scrambled to pick up the pieces. Carlos tried not to get distracted by the fact that she looked super adorable right now. "Need some help?", Carlos offered, bending down to aid her. It was when their hands touched on the same piece of fake armor that caused Carlos to lock eyes with Jane. Her baby blue eyes captivated him, drew him in like a moth to a flame. She appeared to be no less captivated. He was content to merely be stuck in this state and to never look away, until he remembered why he had gone to her in the first place. "Listen, can- can I talk to you for a sec?", he asked, hoping he didn't sound as wobbly as he felt.

"O- okay, um I-", Jane stuttered, her eyes wide and curious. It took all of Carlos's willpower not to heave a sigh of relief and maintain his calm, and also not to chuckle at how cute she was when she was nervous. Gently, he took her hand in his and led her away from the crowd, hoping and wishing upon a star that she'd say yes.

* * *

For the first few seconds after the question had left Jay's lips, it rendered Amara completely speechless. Not even an incoherent babble would make itself known as Jay's dark eyes searched for an answer, anxiously waiting. He could've asked her _anything_ in the entire world. He could've asked her to tell her every last thing that she had seen. He could've asked her for any information that she wanted, but out of _everything_ that he could've asked her, he chose _that_? What the hell was she supposed to say? ' _I thought that you didn't want to get closer to him. You have a job to do. You can't get distracted_ ', her brain chastised her. Her heart, however, had other ideas.

"Amara?", Jay asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"What? Oh, sorry. I just- I wasn't expecting that", she admitted sheepishly.

"That's okay. I _am_ known for rendering many a woman speechless", Jay teased, his features melting into a warm smile. Much to her dismay, he got a chuckle out of her. It was all she could do to fend off the envy bubbling up inside of her at the thought of him with other girls, with the chastising of herself following. She didn't have a right to be jealous. Jay could have whatever girl he wanted. " Can I have everyone's attention please?", a voice asked, booming from the microphone. It jolted her from her thoughts, and thankfully, the distraction provided her more time to make her decision. "What the-", Jay said, his arms sliding from around her slowly, taking a few steps toward the sound. Though the bright sun warmed the entire student body of Auradon Prep, Amara suddenly felt chilly. It wasn't because Jay's arms weren't around her, pfft.

"Is Evie out there?", the voice asked. Amara glanced up to see that the boy that wore glasses and sweater vests was the owner of the voice. Doug was his name, wasn't it? Along with the rest of the student body of Auradon, she searched for Evie in the crowd. Her gaze latched onto the blue-haired princess as she made her way down to the field, approaching the dwarf's son.

"Listen, Evie. I know I haven't been as, ah, present as I normally am with you, but", he cut himself off, as if he were afraid to say the next words that would pass his lips. Eyes wide with anticipation, Evie watched as Doug approached her. "You know I could never keep a secret from you", Doug admitted earnestly. Evie broke into a smile, nodding in agreement. Doug exhaled a sigh, as if to say, ' _here goes nothing_ '. "Evie, will you be my date to the Heritage Festival?", he asked. Not taking her eyes away from his, Evie took the microphone from his hand, waving it back and forth between her thumb and index finger. Biting her lip, her eyes became downcast as Doug anxiously awaited her response. A few seconds passed. Evie remained silent, the rest of the crowd along with her.

"Evie?", Doug asked anxiously. Even if Amara's heightened hearing hadn't picked up the sound of Doug's racing heart, she immediately would've been able to tell that he was scared out of his mind that Evie would say no. Not that she would do it, of course. A few more seconds passed before her features slowly contorted into a playful smile, giving a visible nod. "Yes", Evie said. "Yes". Amara listened to Doug's heartbeat relax in tempo as his features melted into a grin that resembled his father. Evie's elated giggles could be heard as Doug got to her in two steps, picking her up and spinning her around while the crowd and his marching band mates cheered him on.

As Mal was clapping and cheering for her friend, Ben's arms came around from behind her shoulders, hugging her tightly and pressing his lips to her temple. Giggling, Mal's hands covered his own, tightening his hold on her. Sliding his arms from around her, Mal turned around with an inquisitive look in her eyes. From seemingly nowhere, Ben pulled out a single red rose. Mal eyed the rose curiously, her gaze shifting back to Ben. Doing what she always did, Amara eavesdropped on the situation. "Mal, would you do me the honor of accompanying me to the Heritage Festival?", Ben asked. Mal smiled at her boyfriend's formal sentiment.

"Over-the-top as always", Mal teased.

"So is that a yes?", asked Ben.

Mal shook her head as her hands wrapped around her boyfriend's neck, pulling his lips down to hers. To her left, Amara heard a sharp, excited ' _yes_ '. She was greeted by the sight of Carlos and Jane together. Jane had the largest grin her face, clapping excitedly and bobbing up and down. In the heat of the moment, the Fairy Godmother's daughter wrapped her arms around Carlos's neck and kissed him square on the lips. Out of surprise, Carlos's face turned bright red. Opening her eyes, she immediately pulled back as she realized what she'd done. She began to babble apologies so fast that her words blurred together, all the while not noticing the grin forming on Carlos's face. Taking a step toward her, Carlos gently took her face in his hands and pressed his lips gently to hers, grinning warmly down at her when they broke away.

Amara wasn't sure what had happened, but seeing those couples together sent a pang of longing in her chest. It sent a lot of questions into her head, like whether or not she'd ever be able to have that, have a relationship with someone. The closest thing that she had to that was with Jay, but even she wasn't sure if it was anything more than friends. _Did_ she even want something like that, or was she just infatuated with the idea of it? Did _Jay_ even have feelings for her? She felt as though she knew the answer to that last question, but even if he did, it wouldn't be fair to go into a relationship with him knowing that at any moment, her destiny would catch up with her and something could happen to her.

' _Whoa whoa whoa, stop. You're getting ahead of yourself. You need to focus on what you came here to do',_ her mind chastised her. But what _was_ she brought here to do? She'd been here for the past six years and _still_ she had no clue as to how she was supposed to save Auradon. The only things she knew was that she still had to find out what the Eclipse was and how to stop Jafar, and even those two issues came up as blanks. She already had Mal and Evie as allies, so what was one more? And plus, she was never given any guidelines on how to acquire those allies. As far as she knew, anything went. She decided to take a page from Evie's book and enjoy what was around her while she could. Exhaling a resolved sigh, she lightly tapped on Jay's shoulder, to which his head promptly whipped around, his eyes holding an inquisitive look.

"Yes", she said.

At least, that's what would've happened, if not for the images that suddenly flooded her mind.

* * *

"Nice win", Jordan said as she met Aziz on the field, his tourney gear packed in his duffle.

"Yeah. They put up a hell of a fight though", Aziz admitted as he cooled off on the bench.

"So how did it feel?", Jordan asked. She knew that the boys his age from his home country weren't his favorite people, the nobility at least. He hated the things that they said about his father, hated the things that they said about the lower class, as if they weren't worth the dirt on the bottom of their shoe.

"To put them in their place? It was frikkin' amazing man. I mean, did you see the look their faces?", Aziz said, a grin forming on his face.

"Is that why you defended Jay most of the game? Just for the adrenaline?", Jordan asked. She had to admit, she was a bit surprised. Aziz had never really been known to do things for personal gain, or just for the rush.

"Is your opinion of me that low?", he teased. "No, that's not why I did it. Granted, it's a perk, but you know that that's not why I did it", he said.

"Yeah, I know. You're too selfless for your own good", Jordan said, playfully shoving his shoulder. Jordan had known Aziz all her life. He was her best friend, she knew him like she knew every square inch of her lamp and what it could do in the wrong hands. She knew that Aziz wanted to show Jay that he had no qualms about him, that he wasn't totally hated in Agrabah. He wanted to set a good example, he wanted to show that not all Royals were bad. Aziz and Jordan knew that some AK's were a bit on the crueler side and got away with it by hiding behind their Hero status. Aziz wasn't one of them, and Jordan admired that.

Jordan took a seat next to him on the bench as the rest of the student body of Auradon Prep filed out accordingly, heading off to their weekend plans. "So, have you asked anyone to the Heritage Festival yet?", Jordan asked for what seemed like the millionth time.

"No, but asking me if I did _every_ day isn't going to speed up the process", Aziz retorted.

"Come on. There has to be at least _one_ girl in this school that floats your boat", Jordan said, playfully nudging her best friend's shoulder.

"Did you just say 'float your boat' ?", he asked, a teasing smirk on his face.

"Don't try to change the subject", Jordan scolded, smacking him in the side.

"Jordan, I know that you want me to be happy, but I'm fine. Trust me", Aziz said. Jordan knew better. Aziz had always felt things very deeply; he took after his mother in that regard. Learning of his sister's kidnapping took a toll on him, gave him the weight of bearing loss that he shouldn't've been given at the age that his parents told him. From then on, he didn't exactly shy away from the possibility of finding happiness, but at the same time, he wasn't jumping at the chance. She was the one who had been there for him after he'd been told about his sister and what happened to her. Jordan was the one that stood by his side even after he'd resolved to be strong for his parents, because she knew that one day, whether he wanted to or not, he'd fall apart.

She debated telling him what his sister's name was, but then she remembered that she didn't even know if Amara was who Jordan thought she was. Jordan knew that she should at least tell him about her suspicions, but also knew that unless she had proof, it would go on deaf ears. Anytime she so much as mentioned the topic of his sister, he immediately shut down. As she watched him, she noticed that he began to squeeze his eyes shut and hiss slightly, clutching the side of his head. If Jordan wasn't a magical being, she would've passed it off as just a giant migraine.

She could sense that there was magic at work, and it was focused in his back pocket. She knew that she'd get backlash for this, but making a snap decision, she reached into Aziz's back pocket and pulled out his sister's necklace. "Hey!", Aziz exclaimed as he reached quickly for the necklace. "What the hell?", he asked, clearly miffed by her antics. Needless to say, when somebody other than his family members touched his sister's necklace without his permission, he was less than happy, but he always got a little mad when Jordan took it by surprise.

"A migraine might be a miniscule sign to you, but I sense magic working. It was coming from her necklace", Jordan explained. The golden cat began to raise, the force acting on it like a magnet to metal. The direction that the necklace was being tugged in revealed a scene that made Jordan's breath catch.

* * *

"Amara?", Jay asked as a familiar cloud of film covered her eyes. She was having a vision. But how? They only ever came when she was asleep, at least that's what she'd told him. "Mal?", Jay heard Ben's voice ask. His head whipped around in the direction of the voice. Ben gripped Mal's shoulders, his honey brown eyes searching Mal's face. "Evie, you okay?", he heard Doug's voice, seeing that he too was searching Evie worriedly. Without even thinking about it, Jay began to use his new heightened senses to see what was wrong with them, and what he saw intrigued him. Like Amara, they had gone completely still, yet their vitals remained the same. Their eyes didn't take on the film that Amara's had. They both appeared to shake themselves of it, and he could sense their mixed emotions.

"Yeah, I'm fine Doug. Don't worry about it. Besides, I've gotta go plan my outfit. I will see _you_ later", she said sweetly, giving Doug a kiss before breaking away. Evie immediately jogged over to where they were, Mal and Ben following suit. To the side of him, Jay could sense warmth coming towards them. It was the same sensation that he had experienced during the game when he sensed a player trying to get one over on him. Looking in the direction of the heat signature, he saw that Carlos was approaching. "Hey, what's going-", Carlos stopped talking as soon as he saw Amara. "Oh", he said in realization.

Forgetting about this brief distraction, his thoughts shifted back to Amara, his fingertips brushing her forehead. "Whoa, Mal. Are you alright?", Ben asked worriedly as Mal was being afflicted again. Out of the corner of his eye, Jay could see Mal clutching her forehead. Even if he didn't have newly acquired heightened senses and even without using them again, he could see that Mal was seriously disoriented, as was Evie, but seeing it and sensing it were on completely different levels. "What's going on with you two?", asked Jay.

"When we all touched Mal's spell book in the dungeon, it opened up a connection between all of us, but only a small one. What affects her only affects us a fraction", Evie explained. The boys all nodded in understanding. "What are you guys seeing right now?", asked Carlos, waving his hand in front of Amara's eyes, wondering if she could see or hear any of them while she was in this state, if she was even aware. Carlos was betting that she wasn't.

"Books. Shelf after shelf of books", Evie said, staring at nothing in particular, but at a fixed point rather.

"The room is dark. It's being dimly lit by torches", Mal observed.

"It's kind of flickering in and out of focus", Evie added. Their focus shifted when they heard a thump on the ground. "Amara", Jay said worriedly as he immediately darted to her side, feeling her head as if its temperature would show any symptoms. Evie and Mal appeared to sway back and forth a bit as they held their heads. "Guys, what else are you seeing?", Jay asked urgently, hoping that they would contain something that would help Amara. If it were only a vision that were affecting her, then it would've come to her in the form of a dream. As far as he knew, this was the first time that it had happened while she was awake. Something was definitely up.

"There's the room that we found the writing in at Blackborough", Mal said. The girls both gasped as their chests rose up a bit, as if they were taking their first breaths after waking up from a dream. "It stopped", Evie confirmed, a confused expression on her face, her gaze shifting to Amara's unconscious body. Evie and Mal bent down to the unconscious girl's side. Evie and Mal reached out to touch the girl's shoulders, but as soon as they both laid a hand on her, they were suddenly overcome with the intense need to do one thing.

"Guys, we need to get her to Blackborough _now_ , like, _right_ now", Evie said as she and Mal slid their arms under Amara's, propping her up. "Well are you guys gonna help us carry her, or do we have to do it ourselves?", Mal ranted. They weren't sure what exactly possessed them to do so. They didn't know _why_ or _how_ getting Amara to Blackborough was going to help anything. All Mal and Evie knew was that they _had_ to bring her there.

"Here, I'll just do it", Jay said, scooping Amara into his arms bridal style. Evie smirked slightly to herself. She had a pretty good feeling that only Jay would opt for any opportunity to be close to her.

"Listen, Ben. We got this from here", Mal said as she turned to Ben. He looked as though he wanted to object, which was perfectly understandable. Ever since she had returned from her four days of being missing, Ben had been a little bit on the overprotective side. "Mal-", he began.

"Ben, I know you're worried about me, but everything's going to be fine", Mal said in an attempt to reassure her boyfriend.

"Mal, what if something happens?", Ben asked, his honey brown eyes filled with concern for her.

"Then we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Besides, Amara's the only one who even remotely has an idea about how to save Auradon from the Eclipse or whatever it's called", Mal explained.

"Eclipse?", Ben inquired, his expression laced with confusion.

"That's what Amara called it", Mal said. Ben's eyes became downcast, biting his lip in contemplation.

"What is it?", Mal asked, noting Ben's expression.

"I think I've heard that before. I'm not sure where though", Ben answered. In fact, he could've sworn that at some point, his parents had talked about the 'Eclipse' with Fairy Godmother, whatever it was. Ben knew what an eclipse _was_ , but he vaguely remembered this 'Eclipse' being spoken about as if it were some extremely important celestial event for magic or something. A small sound from behind them caught their attention. Mal's head whipped around to see what it was. Amara still wasn't moving. "We need to get her to Blackborough, _now_ ", Evie implored. Mal agreed. Even if they couldn't get into the room, maybe there was something there that could help her.

"I'll be back later, Ben", Mal promised. Ben bit his lip, clearly wanting to object to Mal leaving the school, but ultimately knew that she was just going to do it anyway. Quickly, Ben's palm found its way to Mal's cheek, his thumb stroking the soft skin. "Be safe", Ben said. Mal covered his hand with her own until he went away, leaving her with the rest of the group.

"Mal, are you coming or not?", Jay snapped impatiently.

"Not now dude, okay?", Carlos said, the unspoken message being said that Jay couldn't lose his cool, as there were more important things that needed their attention.

"Guys, grab onto our hands", Evie urged. She stuck one of her hands out to Carlos, the other resting on Jay's shoulder, Mal following suit. With the witch and the fairy voicing the incantation, they soon found themselves at the ancient castle. Quickly as they got there, they rushed inside, however, Mal couldn't help but feel like that somehow, in some way, they were being followed.

* * *

If not for the cloaking spell that Jordan had put on herself and Aziz the moment that she saw the VK's surrounding Amara, they would've noticed her immediately because of the trinket in her hand. As soon as they transported away, the necklace yanked Jordan's body so hard that she fell on the ground with a loud thud. When she tried to get back up again, the necklace knocked her back down with its force. "What the- whoa!", Jordan said as the necklace continued to yank her towards the woods.

"Jordan!", Aziz called, sprinting to her and grabbing her waist. It did little to help Jordan stop moving. Oddly enough, he could actually _sense_ the necklace's turmoil at not being with its rightful owner. The feeling was as tangible and real as anything he could touch. He didn't have time to question where those thoughts came from. Quickly, he reached for his sister's necklace, untangling it from the genie's grip. Closing his fist around the cat, he could feel the necklace calming down. The necklace's force had reduced to a slight tugging, pulling him towards the woods. "Jordan, do you know how to make this stop?", Aziz asked.

"No", Jordan panted, exasperated and slightly miffed at the necklace as she dusted herself off. "Besides, don't you want to know where this'll lead?", she asked, gesturing to the necklace. Aziz wasn't sure how to answer that question. On one hand he was curious as to know why the necklace was being drawn towards a group of VK's and the new girl, but on the other hand, he was slightly nervous as to what he might find. Apparently, the necklace had other ideas.

"Whoa, what the-, ahh!", Aziz shouted as the necklace lifted him up off of the ground, shooting off into the woods, the sound of Jordan calling his name growing fainter with each passing second. It pulled him so quickly that he was in danger of letting go of it, but he also knew that he'd sooner break all of his upper appendages than let go of his sister's necklace. The greenery of the Enchanted Forest was all a blur as the necklace carried him to its destination. While he was flying through the forest, he questioned why this was even happening. What else could you do when a golden cat was carrying you at least 10 feet off of the ground and didn't appear to be stopping anytime soon?

The first thing that he asked himself was this: 'what kind of magic was performed on this necklace?', because obviously there was magic involved. Secondly, when was the magic on this necklace done? And thirdly, where was it even _taking_ him? His last question was answered when he suddenly dropped from the air and onto a stone ground. The ancient, cracked stone bit into his skin. He was sure that they left marks. Grunting, he pushed himself up off of the ground and finally caught sight of the ruins that stood tall. "Dear Allah", he whispered to himself as he stared in awe. This was Blackborough. He thought it was impressive when he came here the first time nearly a month ago, but seeing it on its own without teenagers crowding it gave him the chance to truly envision how it used to be, how strong it must be to still be standing, even if it was in ruins.

Clutching the necklace, Aziz tentatively stepped towards the entrance of the deteriorating castle. He could hear voices in the castle, echoing from afar. At first, he thought that maybe the voices of the spirits were whispering, wondering as to why one of the living had ventured into their home. In a land full of magic, he wouldn't put it past the possibility of that happening with an ordinary mortal hearing it no less. As he ventured deeper into the castle, the voices grew louder, and it was then that he was convinced that there were people. He figured that it was the group that had flashed out of the tourney field with Amara. As he turned around the corner into what he assumed was the grand room, it was there that he saw them, and it was there that his heart seized with a panic that he had never known.

* * *

Quickly as they had arrived at the castle, they carried Amara's unconscious body inside the deteriorating building. "This way", Evie instructed, leading them to the grand room where they had discovered the writing. Carlos stared up in awe at the architecture of this place. It had to have been damned good for it to have stood up for this long. Granted, it _did_ have some holes in it, but it was intact for the most part.

"Okay, set her down right here", Mal instructed. Doing as Mal said, Jay laid Amara down as gently as humanly possible, her head being the last thing to touch to ancient stone floor as his hand cradled it. "Okay, so what do we do now?", Jay asked impatiently, anxious to wake her up. Kneeling next to Amara, Mal let her hands hover over the unconscious girl. "I need to see what's wrong with her", Mal said.

"You can do that?", Carlos asked as he walked over to where everyone was.

"In theory, that's what _should_ happen", Mal said.

"Wait, what do you mean _should_?", asked Jay, worried that what Mal was doing might hurt Amara, not that Mal would do that on purpose.

"This place is saturated, teeming with magic. By tapping into it, I can send my power into her, and it should theoretically let me see what's going on inside of her, then maybe we can figure out how to help her", Mal explained.

"Evie, Carlos. You guys look for the entrance to the room", Mal instructed.

"Shouldn't we stay with her? What if something happens to her?", Carlos asked, staring down at Amara with concern.

"All the more reason that we need to find that room. It was stacked sky high with potions and books on anything and everything it looked like. There's bound to be _something_ in there that can help her, or help us figure out what's wrong with her", Evie said. At that moment, Mal and Evie seriously hoped that they'd find _something_. Blame it on the connection, but when they touched Amara's shoulder on the tourney field, new feelings sparked Mal and Evie. Feelings like familiarity, compassion, _gratitude_. Right now, of one thing, they were absolutely certain. They knew that they had met Amara before. They knew that she had helped them in _some_ way, but for some reason, they couldn't remember how or why. Mal and Evie both silently agreed that Amara _had_ to be okay, they would make sure of it.

"Have you figured out what's wrong yet?", Jay asked, growing more and more anxious by the minute.

"She's in a deep trance. I don't know how or why, but that's what's going on", Mal said, withdrawing her power from Amara. It took all of her willpower not to punch the ground in frustration. No one could break a trance unless you were the one who put the victim in it, which obviously wasn't the case. Mal clenched her fists as she reigned in her frustration. She stood up and stepped away from Amara, running her hands through her hair as is some bright idea would be squeezed from the action. It was then that her eyes fell on the writing.

"Jay? Jay. Jay come over here. Look at this", Mal said, beckoning him to come over. She could see him taking one look at her before he reluctantly got up and joined Mal. She felt bad about separating the two, but maybe there was something in the writing that could help them if they could decode it. She figured that Jay had seen enough weird stuff in his dad's shop that he might be able to pick up at least _something_ from the panel.

With each step closer to Mal, Jay could feel the magic on the panel of writing. This time it wasn't just a call, it was a gravitational _pull_. He felt as though he couldn't stop even if he wanted to. As he bent down to the writing, he was astonished at what it began to do. The writing began to _decode_ itself right before his very eyes. "Mal, look", Jay said, tugging on her wrist and pointing at the writing. "What?", Mal asked.

"The writing is changing, you don't see it?", Jay asked.

"No. Jay, nothing's happening, nothing that I can see at least", Mal said. "Hey! Evie, Carlos. Get over here!", Mal called to her friends.

Jay squinted his eyes at her, his head cocked to one side in confusion. How could _he_ see the writing, but no one else? He decided that he didn't have time to question the universe right now and just to focus on the task at hand. He watched and waited as the writing continued to twist and fold in on itself until it formed shapes and words that he could understand. "What's going on?", Carlos asked as he bent down next to Jay.

"Jay can read the writing", Mal answered. Jay shot her an annoyed glare. "What? You _can_ , can't you?", Mal asked, crossing her arms and cocking her hip. With his attention going back to the writing, he saw that it had finished decoding itself. "Well? What does it say?", asked Carlos.

' _Only to those who are pure of heart shall the secrets of the Castle be revealed_ ', Jay read. As soon as the words were said, Jay felt a sudden presence calling to him. He whipped his head up to search for where it was coming from. He felt his eyes grow warm as he caught sight of a spot on the wall completely covered in vines. He could see that there was a door behind all of the vines, but the strange thing was that he didn't find himself worried about his reptilian eyes as he normally was. Maybe it was because he had more important things to worry about.

"Hey guys! I think I found something!", Jay called, feeling his eyes go back to normal as he sensed the others approaching, thank the Gods.

"A bunch of vines?", Mal questioned sardonically.

"There's a door or something behind it", Jay added cryptically.

"How do you know?", asked Carlos.

"There has to be _something_ important. Mal said that this place was saturated with magic. Why else would the vines all be growing to _this_ specific spot?", Jay deflected, gesturing to the wall of vines. He thanked the Gods that he could come up with a reply so easily, but at the same time, the fact that it was so easy for him to lie to his friends unsettled him.

"Well, how are we supposed to get past it? Is there a spell or something?", asked Carlos, the question implicitly directed at Jay. Mal and Jay stepped toward the wall of vines, sticking their hand through all of the foliage. After about two minutes of frustrated grunts at the uncooperative wall of vines, their hands finally touched stone, and by then, the vines nearly covered up to their shoulders. "Well, now what are we supposed to do?", Jay muttered. This wall of vines was _huge_ , and almost as thick as the brambles of the Isle of the Doomed. Mal withdrew her hand immediately, and Jay followed suit, both staring up at the wall. "Find something sharp. Maybe we can cut our way through", Jay said.

"Wait", Mal said, picking up a decently sized piece of rubble from beside her. "Jay, throw it up to the wall", Mal instructed. Jay was the strongest one here, he could get it the highest. Doing as Mal said, Jay tossed up the rock, and immediately, the vines snaked out, swallowing the rock whole. "What the-", Carlos said.

"Okay, so trying to get in by force. Not an option", Mal pointed out.

"But it didn't try to swallow us before", Jay said.

"Because we weren't actually trying to get in before", Mal countered. It took all of Jay's willpower not to chuck something at the already crumbling walls. _Now_ what were they supposed to do?

A sharp gasp brought them away from the task at hand. Mal and Jay were greeted by the sight of Amara awake, clutching her head and her gaze shifting all over the place in confusion.

"Amara", Jay said, relieved that she was alright and immediately jogging over to her. No longer clutching her head, she made a move to stand up, on wobbly legs no less. "Whoa, hey. Take it easy", Jay said softly, his hands gripping her elbows gently to steady her. When her eyes at last found his, there was something in them that Jay couldn't place. Was it surprise? Awe? They appeared captivated by him for reasons that remained unknown to him. It couldn't be because of her vision, could it? Was he in it? Had she seen what he was becoming? Did she know his secret? Was she afraid? Jay felt a fresh wave of anxiety at the thought. He wasn't sure what he would do if she were afraid of him. She squeezed her eyes shut as she moaned in frustration, shaking her head rapidly back and forth, running her hands through her hair. "What happened? Do you feel okay?", Evie asked as the others came to her side.

"Yeah. My head just hurts a little, that's all", Amara said.

"What happened to you? Vision?", asked Carlos, repeating Evie's first question. Amara's slight nod gave the group their answer.

"What did you see?", asked Jay, never breaking his gaze from her.

"It was weird. I saw the room again as you guys probably already know", Amara said, Mal and Evie nodding their heads in understanding.

"And then, it just went dark", she said, confusion lacing her words, "but the confusing thing is that this happened while I was awake. That's never happened before. And this vision felt different than normal".

"Different how?", asked Mal, cocking her head to one side.

"I'm not sure. It's like, like its aura felt different or something. I don't know", Amara answered. Just as she finished speaking, a sound brought the groups' attention away from her, which she was somewhat grateful for. She was beginning to feel a bit claustrophobic. What they saw next made their confusion even worse. The vines were completely clearing away as if they were growing in reverse, the door opening wide, its aura saying ' _enter if you dare_ '. Surprisingly enough, at that moment, the question going through everyone's mind wasn't whether or not what lie on the other side of the door.

The question was how deep it went and how far down they were willing to venture to find the answers that each one of them so desperately sought.


	14. Pure of Heart

**Chapter 13**

To say the least, Aziz's eyes were about ready to bug out of his head. The necklace's force had dulled to a light gravitation, but the crazy thing was, it was gravitating towards _Amara_ , who was passed out on the ground only wake up a few minutes later. Even _crazier_ , for some inexplicable reason, he was _terrified_ she was hurt in some form or fashion even though he barely knew her, almost as if it were one of his basic human instincts. Only when she woke up did his panic cease. The VK's all surrounded her and she proceeded to tell them about 'visions' she had, and then out of nowhere, the vines on the wall clear and a humongous door was revealed, opening to a golden light whose rays shined from the depths, like a rising sun, warm and inviting, reminding him of the Cave of Wonders from his father's stories.

The sounds of his combat boots echoed throughout the castle as he stepped into what was left of the room slowly, still processing everything he had seen. He could've _sworn_ when Amara woke up, she saw through the cloaking spell, although he had the feeling if she had seen anything, she would've said so, or she wouldn't've and questioned him later. Either way, Aziz was fairly certain that she knew someone had been there, but then, maybe the magic was beginning to muddle his brain a little and make him come up with paranoid explanations. All he knew was he had to slip out of there before anyone came back.

It wasn't as if he couldn't handle himself, but Aziz was practically sure if he were discovered, it would lead to an entire confrontation which he wasn't sure he was ready for. How exactly did you bring up to a girl whom you barely knew that a _necklace_ had carried him there when it possibly may have been following _her_? What was he supposed to say? ' _Hey. Sorry I followed you, which wasn't actually my fault, it was the necklace's, a necklace which happens to belong to my long-lost sister who was abducted before it could be given to her and, funny story, it's actually drawn to you, so there's a chance you may or may not be her. Insane right?_ '.

" _That'd_ be one way to get her attention. But yeah, let's see how well _that_ goes over", Aziz muttered to himself. Then again, maybe she could handle it. He recalled her reaction when he had admitted to having a 'twin telepathy' moment with her as he called it, but then again, they've only known each other all of two weeks, so she was about as likely to believe him as the apple merchant in the marketplace of Agrabah was likely to let a thief leave with his hands. But what was Aziz going to do if it _actually_ had been the case, if Amara _was_ his sister? ' _We'll cross that bridge once we come to it,_ if _we ever come to it',_ he decided. He pulled out his phone and tapped in Jordan's number. After it rang a few times, Jordan's warm, inviting voice greeted him on the other end. "Okay first of all, where the _hell_ are you?!", Jordan exclaimed. ' _Yeah, warm and inviting'_ , Aziz thought sarcastically to himself as he held his phone a few inches from his ear as Jordan shouted at him through it. He sort of preferred to keep his hearing intact.

"Up the freaking creek without a paddle", Aziz replied as he walked toward the door the group had gone through moments before, returning the phone to his ear.

"Are you at least soaking wet on account of your ass having fallen in the water?", his best friend retorted sardonically.

"Not even a little drip", he shot back. Aziz could tell from where he was, she was rolling her eyes hard right now.

"So what _happened_?", asked Jordan.

"Honestly, I don't know. The necklace carried me off and it calmed down as soon as it got to Blackborough and- look, I'll tell you everything once I'm back at school", Aziz said.

"Do you need me to come find you?", she asked.

"Not right now. If I'm not back in a few hours, I'll call you", Aziz promised.

"You've got _one_ hour, and when you _do_ get back, you'd better not leave out a _single_ detail. I'll meet you at on the tourney field.", Jordan said before hanging up. Aziz exhaled at his feisty friend, slipping the phone into his back pocket as he began walking to the entrance of the structure. Out of nowhere, a stone tile disappeared from under his feet, and Aziz was sucked into the ground before he even had a chance to cross the threshold.

* * *

As Amara and the rest of the gang approached the entrance of the door which had revealed itself, she thought about her latest vision, because the room wasn't the only vision she had received. She hated she felt as though it was necessary for her to lie through omission, but if she were being honest, most of what she had seen didn't make any sense to her at all. She first saw an actual eclipse, which she could only assume was _the_ Eclipse. She saw it as clearly as if it were happening in the present, the new moon perfectly eclipsing the sun, but this appeared to be a bit larger than a normal eclipse.

Following that, she saw all of them in the room, so somehow, they must've been granted entrance or something, but they appeared to be surrounding something, a cylindrical pedestal that had 3 rectangular indentations, all evenly spaced from each other around the top of it. The last image was of a man who looked to be in his late 20's. Overall, his frame was lean and chiseled as was his jawline. His dark hair, thick and wavy, reached down to his shoulders. His skin was a familiar shade of caramel, at least, the human part of his skin was. His neck, shoulders and the contours of his face were covered in amber snake scales. His throat was lined with the ridges you'd find under a snake.

The man hissed loudly. She knew his face anywhere, for this was the face of Jafar, long before he came to the Isle, long before he was even accepted into the palace of Agrabah, but that wasn't the even the craziest image. Gradually, Jafar's hair grew and his features molded and shifted into a face she knew all too well. Soon, it was Jay's face that stared back at her. It was _Jay_ who had the hiss of a snake, it was _Jay_ whose fangs were fully extended, like the sharpest, narrowest bone needles ever to grace the earth. The golden color of his eyes shone as brightly as the treasure in the Cave of Wonders, his pupils thin, dark slits. They were the same eyes that she had seen him with the night that she had slipped into his room, the night she had finally revealed herself to him after six years. Even more strange, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she had seen him with those eyes even _before_ that night. If she could only remember when.

The next moment she knew, she found herself in the grand room of Castle Blackborough, awoken from her strange stupor. Other than Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos, Amara could've sworn she sensed someone else from behind the wall, but the person ducked away before she got a good look. "Whoa". The sound of Carlos's voice jolted her from her thoughts. They stood right at the entrance of the door, a mixture of golden and amber light rays shining from the bottom of the stairs, the large, open doors magnifying the effect.

"So, who's going first?", Mal asked sarcastically. Without question, Amara was the first to step across the threshold, her steps echoing throughout the dusty, ancient stairwell. Mal and Evie were the next to go, with Carlos following after them. "Jay, you coming?", Carlos's call echoed from halfway down the stairs.

Right as Jay was about to cross the threshold, he stopped himself. What if his reptilian traits showed themselves once he was down there? What if he couldn't make them go away? What if he couldn't force them down like he normally did? What if he found out something he wished he hadn't? Then again, what was he going to do if he _never_ found out what was happening to him? Sucking in a long breath, he took the first step, and then the next, and then the next, and continued this process until he had reached his friends at the bottom, hearing the large stone doors close behind him.

"What took you so long?", asked Evie as Jay jogged down the last few steps.

' _If you only knew_ ', Jay thought, slightly shaking his head back and forth. "Nothing", he lied.

Running his hands through his hair in an attempt to soothe his nerves, Jay approached the glowing entrance. The group was greeted by the sight of Amara staring up at the high ceiling of the empty, torch-lit room as they crossed the threshold. The entrance to the room closed as soon as the last of them had passed through. Startled, the group looked back at where the entrance had once been. "No turning back now", Carlos muttered.

"So now what are we supposed to do?", Mal asked, the question directed at Amara.

"We wait, I guess", Amara offered, at a loss for what to do. Her heart began to pound with anxiety. She saw the room _clearly_. She knew it had to be here somewhere, and yet they had all come into a dead end. But this couldn't _possibly_ be the place, could it? All of a sudden, the ground began to shake under their feet. "Guys?", Evie said warily.

The shaking increased, and suddenly the floor cracked in two. Everyone's bodies shook and wobbled back and forth along with the floor. More cracks began to form, snaking out from the main one. "What's happening?!", Carlos yelled over the commotion.

It was then that the floor caved out from under them, the group tumbling into the dark, seemingly endless abyss.

* * *

Aziz woke up with a dull, throbbing ache in his head and his shoulder feeling like a pile of bricks had been dropped on it. He grunted in pain as it registered in his brain, clutching his shoulder. After a few seconds, he shook his head to clear the black spots in his vision, rolling his shoulder a few times as he took in his surroundings. Where was he? Had he been unconscious, and if so, for how long?

The cave he appeared to be in was dimly lit by torches on the wall, the ground having been leveled out for some time, albeit not completely, it appeared. The ceiling of the cave was surprisingly high, stalactites sprinkled around the corners of it. While the ground was somewhat bumpy, there was no way it was _perfectly_ leveled off without some type of assistance. So what could've happened down here? What _was_ this place?

As he began scoping the cave, he slipped his phone into his back pocket, absentmindedly grateful he had changed into his regular clothes before he left the field. As he slipped his phone into his back pocket, he checked his other back pocket out of habit, but as soon as he slipped his hand into it, his heartbeat began to quicken at the emptiness of the pocket.

Wait, where was it? Where was his sister's necklace? ' _It must've fallen out of my hand when I fell_ ', he reasoned. He began to search frantically around for anything that looked like a golden cat. He quickly went back to where he had fallen and dropped to the ground on his knees, sifting through the gravel and dirt with his hands. "Damn it, where _is_ it?", he nearly shouted, his words echoing throughout the cave.

The sound of crumbling rock jolted him from his thoughts. As soon as he looked up, he ducked behind one of the boulders in the cave, shielding himself with his arms as is they could protect him from the rocks which rained down from above. "Aahh!", Aziz heard many voices scream, along with a couple of 'oof's' and grunts following a few seconds after. As soon as the dust cleared, Aziz peeked his head around the corner ever-so-slightly, not wanting to give away his location. He peered at the people sprawled on the ground, trying to see them clearly in the dimly lit cavern. His assumptions were confirmed as he saw two girls with violet and navy hair, and two guys wearing tourney jerseys with a #8 and a #101, if the long dark hair of #8 the white hair with black roots of #101 wasn't any indication of who they were.

There was a third girl as well, wearing a familiar black bomber jacket, her obsidian locks creating a veil around her head as she propped herself up on her elbow, her other hand clutching her head. Amara. "Is everyone okay?", a familiar voice asked. Aziz recognized it as Jay's voice.

"Yeah", Carlos said, grunting in pain as he clutched his head.

"We're good", Mal said, groaning as she rolled her shoulder.

"I'm alright", Evie groaned as she massaged her neck.

Amara tucked her knees to her chest, using her arms to push herself upright. She wiped the dust from her eyes as she sat on her knees, shaking her head to clear her disorientation, no doubt. His curiosity was peaked as Amara cocked her head to one side, her gaze fixated on something in particular. He never got the opportunity to find out, because as she reached for what she had found, the scene around him melted away, a churning sensation taking place in his stomach. A split second later, green was all he saw as he received a mouth full of turf.

* * *

Amara was seriously disoriented, but then again she imagined the rest of them were as well. "Is everyone okay?" she heard Jay's muffled voice ask.

"Yeah- we're good- I'm alright", they all answered, their words almost blurring together. Amara couldn't seem to make her voice work. She was focused on clearing the black spots in her vision. She shook her head a few times as her vision and hearing began to clear up. She clutched her throbbing head, a piercing ache going through it. Opening and closing her eyes a few times helped her vision clear up a bit more, but also alerted her to an object that glinted in the distance.

Tucking her knees into her chest, she sat upright on her hip and wiped the dust off of her eyes to be sure what she was seeing wasn't a trick of the light. The glint was still there. Curious, she reached out. She swept away the dust from the rubble, and what it revealed confused her. She wrapped her fingers around the golden charm and blew the rest of the dust off of it to see it better. She was briefly distracted by a bright flash of light, but her focus shifted back to the trinket in her hand.

The charm was as big around as the center of her palm, so she could easily wrap her fingers around it. It was gold and in the shape of a cat, the body curled around an opal gem in the center. The chain was small, but not so small as to be delicate. The chain was thick enough to be worn normally and wouldn't have to be treated as fragile. She initially thought maybe it was a lost treasure of Blackborough, but if that were the case, then why did it look fairly new? Why did it look like it had been freshly polished?

Staring at the charm, she slowly came to stand. "What's that?", she heard Mal say. Amara's gaze shifted to Mal, who slowly came to a stand as she did and made her way over to her, the trinket in Amara's hand catching her attention. "It's a necklace. I found it a few seconds after we fell", Amara explained.

"How long do you think it's been down here?", Mal asked, sliding her fingers under the cat and lifting it for closer examination.

"Not long. There weren't any signs of age on it. It wasn't tarnished at all", Amara explained. Sure, pure gold _didn't_ tarnish, but then again, pure gold is also too soft on its own to be made into jewelry without being mixed with other metals that _did_ tarnish from old age. So either the necklace was brand new, or it was polished regularly. If that were the case, which Amara was betting it was, the real question was if it didn't come from down here, then where _had_ it come from? "Okay, weird", Mal said.

"What?" Amara asked.

"There is some _insanely_ strong magic coming from this thing. How is it possible if it didn't come from here? I mean, do you think it belongs to anyone?" Mal contemplated. As soon as Mal pointed it out, Amara also could sense a buzzing sort of energy emitting from the trinket.

"Wait a minute, let me see it", Carlos said as he approached the girls. Carlos peered at the charm as Mal handed it to him. "I've seen this before", Carlos said, his eyes widening in realization.

"Where?" Mal asked.

"It belongs to Aziz. I've seen him pull it out of his pocket a lot. Everywhere he goes, he has it with him. How is it even down here?" Carlos asked no one in particular. Looking down at the necklace, Amara recalled the flash of light when she had gone to pick it up. If Carlos had never seen him without it, then it was safe to say he never went anywhere without it, which led Amara to only one possibility.

"He followed us", Amara concluded. Mal and Carlos cocked their heads to one side in confusion.

"But how? Mal and Evie sent their magic out and swept our surroundings like a bajillion times on the way here. And why would he follow us? It's not like he knew where we were going", Carlos contemplated, handing the necklace back to her.

"Uh, guys?", they heard Jay call from a distance. Mal and Carlos jogged in the direction of his voice, but Amara stayed where she was. She held the charm in her palm, the chain entangled in her fingers. She couldn't seem to stop staring at it. The more she stared at it, the more she felt connected to it. But why would she feel _connected_ to the necklace? It didn't even belong to her, and she'd never seen it before in her life, not even in her visions. Maybe its magic was affecting her somehow.

"Hey Amara! Over here!". Amara glanced up to see Evie beckoning her over. Biting her lip, she glanced down at the necklace one more time. She didn't want to believe Aziz would do something like this on his own. For some reason, she wanted more than anything to believe Aziz was trustworthy. Maybe there was a reasonable explanation, then again she could be thinking wishfully. With one last lingering gaze at the necklace, she slipped it into her back pocket and joined the rest of the group.

* * *

Aziz was coughing up turf as he slid his hands under his chest. He pushed himself off of the ground, clutching his throbbing head as he stood up quickly, seeing black spots in his vision. He felt the ground sway slightly under his feet as he shook his head to clear the fuzziness. He felt small, slender hands grasp his shoulders, steadying him. "Whoa, hey. Take it easy", Jordan said as she held Aziz still.

"Jordan, what the hell?! You _know_ I hate it when you teleport me", Aziz scolded as the sight of the genie snapped him out of his groggy haze, breaking free of Jordan's grasp and pacing anxiously back and forth.

"Um, excuse me for _worrying_ about your safety. Your hour was almost up", Jordan retorted, folding her arms across her chest, her bangles jingling.

"Yeah _thanks_ a lot", Aziz snapped angrily, jogging back towards the woods.

"Okay, hey!", Jordan said, stepping in front of the boy and putting a hand on his chest to stop him. " Hey, Golden Boy. What happened back there?", Jordan asked firmly. She couldn't think of any other event that had happened which could be causing the normally fun, calm, laid-back boy she'd grown up with to acting like a complete douche.

"I need to go back", Aziz insisted, pushing past Jordan.

"Why? Aziz wha- hey!", Jordan called as she stopped Aziz once more. What had him so riled up?

"Aziz, _tell_ me what happened", Jordan demanded.

"Jordan, flash me back there. _Now_ ", Aziz commanded, his Sultan voice kicking in. ' _Oh no he didn't_ ', Jordan thought.

"I thought you hated being teleported, Golden Boy", Jordan retorted in annoyance.

"Jordan, _not_ now", Aziz said firmly. "Flash me back there", he commanded.

"News flash princess, you're _not_ my master. So either tell me why you're acting like a douche or I'll drag your ass to the Royal Dungeons of Agrabah and _kindly_ explain to your parents that you've lost your freaking _mind_!", Jordan threatened.

Aziz was taken aback at Jordan's threat, to say the least. She'd _never_ spoken to him that way before, okay she _had_ , but never before had it sounded so serious, as if she might _actually_ do it. Never had she sounded so angry, then again, never had _he_ tried to tell her what to do before. Why _was_ he acting like this? Surely he thought that he would at least tell Jordan what was going on, but all he could think about was finding the necklace. He felt like a part of him was missing, as though it was lost to him forever.

"I have to go", Aziz said, his pace quick as he walked back to his dorm room. Seriously, _what_ the hell was going on? Why was he feeling these things? He _shouldn't_ be, it was only a necklace after all. ' _But it was my sister's necklace. I had been entrusted with its care, and now it's gone. It's lost somewhere underground and I can't get it back. What am I supposed to do?_ ', he thought to himself.

Why was he even getting _this_ worked up though? He'd never even _met_ his sister; he probably never would. He shouldn't be missing her, he didn't even _know_ her, but his parents had. He'd never known how they suffered until they had told him the truth when he was ten. It was only after that he'd noticed the little things that no one else noticed. The imperceptible way that his mother's face would fall at every one of his birthdays and whenever he played with Jordan, the way that his father seemed to carry around an invisible weight on his shoulders; he remembered he'd been given his sister's necklace when he'd finally been told the truth about her.

' _Keep it safe_ ', his father had told him. Aziz had failed in that. He'd lost the only connection that he had to his abducted sister, and he'd probably lost it forever. What was he going to do?

* * *

Everyone's jaw nearly dropped at the massive golden statue of the gypsy lady with four arms and the bottom half of a snake, Amara most of all. The aura that the statue gave off, she _knew_ that aura. Its presence covered her like a blanket of fog in all of her visions, clouding her with unanswered questions, only able to see bits and pieces. Everyone nearly fainted when the statue began to speak.

"I am the Guardian, the Spirit of the Archives", the statue said, her voice booming, echoing throughout the cavern. The statue's lips hadn't even moved. Out of all of them, Amara was the first to step forward. "Do you know who I am, child?", the Guardian asked.

The voice, she _knew_ this voice. "You're the voice in my visions", Amara said softly in realization.

"I am", the Guardian confirmed. Amara couldn't speak. Her mind hatched a million questions at this new revelation. All these years, the voice in her head had been the Guardian of the _Archives_. But why, after 10 years of confusing images would she be lead _here_? Was this where she would find the answers she was looking for? The thought made her buzz with nervous and excited energy.

"Okay, would somebody please care to tell us what's going on? I mean, who even _are_ you?", Mal asked pointedly, crossing her arms and cocking her hip to one side, giving the statue her sassiest stare.

"I am the Guardian, the Spirit of the Archives", the statue repeated.

"Yeah we got that. Does the Spirit of the Archives have a _name_?", Mal retorted. Amara's head whipped around, giving Mal a warning glare as she held a finger to her mouth, telling her to be quiet.

"My name is of no importance to you, and I advise you watch your tone, spawn of Maleficent", the Guardian said threateningly. Mal looked like she wanted to retort, but bit her lip, thinking better of it.

"Wait a second. How did you know who Mal was?", asked Carlos.

"I know who all of you are, Carlos de Vil, as I know why you all have come. I've been expecting you for some time now", the statue answered.

"I would assume so. You're the one who led us here", Amara pointed out.

"I only led _you_ , Amara. The visions only truly came to you. The rest of your party chose to follow. Now the question is: what will be your choice?", the Guardian asked cryptically.

"What?", Amara asked no one in particular. Vines of fear snaked around her heart at what she saw next as she heard a sharp cry of pain to her left. Carlos clutched his head so tight, he looked as though he was literally about to pull out his hair. His back arched over as his hands darted to the ground, clenching his fists. "Carlos!", Jay exclaimed, running over to his afflicted friend. A shriek emitted from behind Amara shifted her attention, and only served to further increase her fear. "Evie!", she and Mal exclaimed as they rushed over to the blue-haired princess.

"Amara, what's-", Mal began to ask before she too had become afflicted like the others, doubled over and clutching her head. "Amara!", Jay shouted, sprinting to her, thinking that she too, would become afflicted. His body arched backward as he suddenly let out a howl of agony, clutching his head as he collapsed to the ground. Their agonized cries pierced Amara's ears, her heart beginning to race as she saw the four villains' children gripping their heads and then their stomach, feeling a pain which could've only been caused by magic.

"What's going on?! Stop it! What are you doing to them?!", Amara shouted at the statue of the Guardian as she watched them convulse on the ground, suffering from a phantom agony.

"The Archives was created by magic. In our world, it is the center of all knowledge. Many have tried to find the Archives, use its knowledge for selfish purposes, for evil. The Archives are a living entity; it must be sustained in order to be protected", the Guardian explained. "What will be your choice, my charge? Or rather, who?". A curved, obsidian dagger with an oil-like luster materialized in Amara's left hand, and it didn't take long for Amara to deduce the Guardian's purpose for the action.

"You want me to _kill_ one of them?", Amara asked incredulously. Upon her realization, the four villain's children's bodies snapped straight up, their heads yanked back by an invisible force, their throats all too accessible for an easy slitting.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures", the Guardian replied. "Choose a life to give to the Archives, or you doom them _all_ ", the Guardian instructed, the ultimatum like a sword over her head, waiting to drop on her. Amara stared down at the dagger, and then back up at the struggling VK's forced to their knees and exposing their throats. Was _this_ her destiny? Was _this_ how she was supposed to save Auradon? By taking a life from someone? She wanted more than anything to uncover more about her destiny, but at what cost? The VK's hadn't done anything wrong, well, at least since they chose good, but even with their past, they deserved to live as much as anyone. But if she didn't choose a life to take, then they were all doomed. In this, she had her answer.

"And it can be any life before me?", she asked.

"Choose", the Guardian repeated. Amara's focus shifted back to the VK's. They began to struggle against their invisible binds as she stepped closer to them. Their eyes widened with anger as she approached, all except Jay. Mal, Evie, and Carlos tried to back away from her, eyeing the dagger in her hand. The closer she came to them, the more they struggled. They wanted to put as much distance between themselves and her as possible (they weren't very keen on being sacrificed if you can imagine). Jay was the only one out of the four who kept perfectly still, watching her expectantly. Taking one last look at them, she closed her eyes as she sucked in a breath, pivoting on one foot as she turned to face the statue.

"Me", she said as she opened her eyes, facing the statue of the Guardian.

"Come again?", the Guardian asked.

"You said I could choose any life. I choose my own", Amara said with conviction, her chin held high at the Guardian. Maybe this had been her destiny all along, to die for the greater good. Maybe Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos would save Auradon and help it prepare for the Eclipse. Maybe she would help them from the Other Side.

"Do you realize what you'd be giving up? Have you considered the consequences? Even if you do find out your origins after the price is paid, what good will it do you?", the Guardian asked indifferently.

"No knowledge is worth murdering _anyone_. Do what you want with me, but leave _them_ alone", Amara said. It was then the VK's stopped cold in pure astonishment. She was willing to give herself over? _Just_ like that? For what felt like hours, they watched Amara in silence as she stared defiantly at the statue of the Guardian.

"Well done", the Guardian said finally. Amara's head cocked to one side, confusion settling into her as the others were released from their invisible binds. Gasps could be heard from them as they sucked in as much air as they could to their oxygen-starved bodies. Amara's head whipped back, letting out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. ' _They're okay_ ', she kept telling herself. ' _They're okay'._

Amara quickly rushed to their sides as Evie and Mal attempted to stand up on wobbly legs. Mal and Evie grasped her arms as she offered them support. Amara offered the same support to Carlos, his small frame easily lifted. Her body turned around sharply, crossing over to Jay in one long stride. Her hands grasped his waist as she helped him to stand, his arm wrapped around her shoulders for support. "Are you guys okay?", she asked, turning away from Jay as she let go of him, feeling the same cold sensation as when Jay had let go of her the first time. The group nodded breathlessly, chests rising and falling. "Okay, _what_ is going on?", Evie asked breathlessly, giving the statue an exasperated look.

"Only those who are pure of heart shall the secrets of the Castle be revealed", the statue said cryptically, quoting the message found above. Suddenly, the five were startled by a grinding sound. A piece of the rock wall began to move of its own accord, golden light spilling out from the cavity in the wall as it grew bigger, until finally it stopped, the cavity resembling a doorway. Amara was the first of the five to step toward the light. On the other side of the threshold were all of the answers she spent her entire life waiting for. "Enter, and the answers you seek shall be revealed. Promptly after, the statue's light began to dim until there was none, the Guardian's presence having left them.

Just when she thought the Guardian had gone silent, when she thought the Guardian had no purpose for her at all, when she had begun to lose faith, on the other side of the threshold held all of the knowledge, all of the secrets of their world. Her feet moved of their own accord, her eyes captivated by the light. She was mesmerized by the brilliance of it. Wanting to get closer, she crossed over the stone threshold and immediately ran down the corridor of stairs. Amara followed the light; it appeared to be leading her down the steps. She didn't care that she might be falling into a trap; she was too excited by the prospect of _finally_ getting a straight answer for once in her life. When she finally reached the bottom of the steps, she stopped dead in her tracks.

The first things that she noticed were the little blue lights that flittered about, whispering their awe as she entered. ' _Will-o'-the-wisps'_ , Amara thought. She'd heard stories of them either leading people astray or where they needed to go, but had never actually seen one up close. When they cleared, her focus shifted.

The Archives were an enormous library. She was standing in what appeared to be the Commons Area, a potions workshop the size of an Auradon Prep dorm room to her right. From what she could see, spiral stairs led to each section, each of which were infinite forests of bookshelves, mountains of knowledge and secrets. The bookshelves reached the top of the cavern, but even then, there were stacks of books next to it that rivaled their height. She felt like she'd downed a bottle of Pishsalver.

She had to crane her neck to get a full view of the enormous book shelves that vastly towered over her. Even to the side of those bookshelves, there were stacks of books that rivaled its height. To say that it put Belle's library to shame was a vast understatement.

"Oh. My. God", Evie's voice echoed throughout the cavern.

" _Look_ at this place", Carlos said.

It was then that the Wisps appeared before _them_ , whispering their awe once more. It must've been a long time since they'd had visitors. The Wisps peered at them, circling them with a curious, cautious air. A few of them gathered in front of Jay's face, looking him square in the eyes. " _Naga_ ", they whispered over and over again. " _Naga_ ". The word had snagged Amara's attention, giving her the strangest sense of dejá vu. Where had she _heard_ that word before?

"Uuhh", Jay said with uncertainty. Why were they surrounding him? Why were they looking at him curiously? Did they know that he wasn't human? Because that was the _only_ thing that he was absolutely certain of. And why did they keep saying ' _Naga'_? What the hell was a Naga?

"Aaww, they're so cute", Evie said. "Hey little guys", she greeted, waving at them. The Wisps surrounded her, and her delighted giggles rang like bells as they snuggled up against her cheeks appreciatively.

"Do you think you guys can help us?", Evie asked sweetly. The Wisps flew around in circles excitedly and then hovered in front of her at attention. They appeared to be all too happy to help the blue-haired princess. Amara stepped toward the small blue apparitions, her hand placing itself on Evie's shoulder. "Nice one", Amara said, impressed at Evie's sweet-talk.

"Thanks", Evie said sweetly.

The Wisps still hovered at attention, as if they were tiny soldiers waiting for commands. Looking the small apparitions straight in the eyes, Amara immediately knew where to start. With her chin raised at the Wisps, she looked them square in their bright, opaque eyes.

"Do you guys have anything about the Eclipse?".


	15. Questions Answered (Not Really!)

**Chapter 14**

"Do you guys have anything on the Eclipse?".

As soon as the question was asked, the Wisps disappeared in a puff of blue smoke. "Wha- where did they go?", Mal asked incredulously, her head twisting around, her eyes searching up for the blue apparitions.

' _Seriously?',_ Amara thought to herself, but then again, why should she have expected anything less? Nothing in life _ever_ came that easily.

"Guess we have to find whatever it is we're looking for ourselves" _,_ Amara said, exhaling a sigh of resolve. "Shall we?", Amara asked no one in particular as she began to walk up the steps toward the bookshelves. The second her foot crossed the top of the steps, the force of the protective field surrounding it was powerful enough to send her body hurtling back, spiraling onto the ground as her body made contact with it. Her head was the last thing to hit the ground as her body lost momentum, slowing to a stop, her vision fading to black.

* * *

Ben spent every other weekend at Castle Beast. When he became king, he made it a priority to set aside time for his family, something that made Belle's heart well with joy. She loved to see her only son finally coming into his position, was overjoyed to see how much he'd grown. On weekends such as these, their activities would range from playing croquet in the courtyard with to enjoying tea in the dining room, courtesy of Mrs. Potts.

Ben particularly liked to spend time in the library with his mother, having conversations about what they'd find about the books they'd find, about anything and everything. He hoped that his mother could shed some light on his questions. Ben wasn't exactly sure how to bring it up. It couldn't just be out of the blue, because then she would suspect something was going on. On the other hand, Ben's curiosity had been peaked. Maybe Amara was right and something was actually _amiss_ with Auradon, as ludicrous as the notion sounded.

Ben regarded his mother with hesitancy as he watched her search for more books to add to her already towering unread books pile. He shook the thoughts out of his head. This was time with his family, time with his mother whom he rarely got to see anymore because of his kingly duties, which was the exact purpose of these visits. He and his parents were as close as any family should be, if not more. Ben's parents wouldn't keep secrets from him, would they?

"Sweetie, you alright?", his mother asked from atop the ladder she stood on. Ben dropped his gaze, biting his lip as he contemplated what to say next. His mother cocked her head to one side, wearing a curious expression as she climbed down the ladder, her steps echoing throughout the library as she made her way over to him.

"Something on your mind? You look lost in thought", his mother said sweetly, a caring hand resting on his shoulder. Ben covered his mother's hand with his own, sending an appreciative look her way. His mother had always been so attentive, so understanding when he had a problem. No matter how small said problem was, she'd always been there. Maybe she had nothing to hide, but Ben could never be too sure, especially when the fate of his kingdom possibly hung in the balance. ' _Here goes nothing',_ he thought to himself.

"What do you know about the Eclipse, Mom?".

* * *

When Amara finally awoke from the void, the world spun for a few seconds as she clawed at the ground, trying to steady herself. Her eyes were blurred, her vision was fuzzy. She remembered tightly squeezing her eyes shut and opening them again to try clearing her vision. She slid her hands under her chest, and lifted herself off the ground on trembling arms. She clutched her head and squeezed her eyes shut once more in an attempt to slow her spinning head. A pair of strong hands gripped her shoulders firmly. The muffled voice she heard sounded urgent, that much she could tell. She shook her head one last time to clear up her vision, and a pair of concerned dark eyes stared back at her. "Amara? Hey, Shadow. Are you okay?", Jay asked as his hands slid up and down her shoulders, his eyes frantically searching for any serious injuries.

"Yeah. Hey. I'm fine", Amara reassured him, her hand coming to hold his shoulder, stilling him as her other hand wrapped around his forearm. "I'm okay", she said once more, intently locking eyes with him. They didn't pay attention to how long they stayed in their trance. Time was of little importance to them. It was the sound of Carlos clearing his throat that finally brought them back to reality. Reluctance glimmered in Jay's dark eyes as he pulled away from her, his gaze settling on something else beside her. Confused, Amara followed it, and then she knew why Jay appeared concerned.

"Oh my God", Amara whispered as she joined Carlos in between Mal and Evie's limp forms. She knew she should be trying to conceal the worry that no doubt was on her face, but at the moment, all she could think about was Mal and Evie, how once again, they had been hurt because of her.

"How long have we been out?", Amara asked urgently.

"A couple of hours", Carlos answered solemnly. Amara felt her chest tightening, but she ignored it; she didn't have time to be shocked. There were more important matters at hand.

"Did you guys check them for any serious injuries, Carlos?", she asked.

"Yeah, we did. The blast made them hit their heads, but it didn't look like they had any gashes or blood anywhere", Carlos answered.

The frustrated expressions on Jay and Carlo's faces told her that it killed them to not be able to do anything about it. Amara scooted up next to Mal and Evie's heads. There didn't appear to be any damage other than future bruises and a major headache, and since they had magic, it was highly unlikely that they'd have concussions, and even if they did, they'd heal. They'd be alright, and knowing that allowed Amara to release a breath she hadn't known she was holding. "Okay. I'll stay with them", Amara said. The boys nodded in acknowledgement.

"Alright. Jay and I'll check to see if there's any cracks in the field", Carlos said as he stood up and walked next to Jay, who was nodding in agreement.

"Wait, what the- hey!", Amara said as she realized what the boys were doing. She stepped up to them, her hands on their shoulders, making sure to stay close to Mal and Evie.

"What is it?", Jay asked.

"Forgive me if I seem overbearing, but I _don't_ really want to see either of you get blasted into bits", Amara answered.

"We have to find a way to get in, don't we?", Jay pointed out.

"Yeah, and we will, but I won't risk _either_ of you getting hurt", Amara declared, steely determination in her eyes as she glanced back and forth between Jay and Carlos. Carlos cocked his head to one side in confusion, appearing slightly taken aback by her words.

Jay knew _exactly_ how she felt. _He_ watched Amara spiral through the air and hit the ground as she rolled limply, and his first thought had been that she had broken something, or that her head hit the ground so hard she was bound to be in a coma for a while. _He_ stayed by her side while she was unconscious. Fear and anger rose up within him at mere _thought_ of her being hurt, which was enough for his reptilian traits to emerge, which of course only happened when his emotions ran high. It took every ounce of self-control and willpower he had to suppress that part of himself, to keep his secret from Carlos. If it had come to that, if Carlos had seen what he was becoming, Jay wasn't sure _how_ he would've reacted. The fact that Amara was alright _now_ was like a soothing balm to his restless nerves.

Amara, on the other hand, was about ready to smack herself up side her head. Did those words _seriously_ just come out of her mouth? ' _Idiot_ ', she chastised herself. She hadn't even been in Auradon for long. Of course, it'd make sense to them if it were only Jay, but what about when the rest of them started asking questions? Then again, they probably already _had_ plenty of questions after she had so adamantly petitioned the Guardian to take _her_ and spare the others. Maybe that had been overkill, but she knew she would've done anything to keep them all safe. Of course, their first thought would be: ' _She barely knows us. Why would she risk her neck for us?_ '. If only they were allowed to know the truth.

Groans could be heard from her left, providing a much needed distraction from her slip-up. She pivoted around, taking one long step to kneel between a disoriented Mal and Evie. "Uugghh, what the hell?", Mal muttered.

"What just _happened_?", Evie asked no one in particular as she rubbed her head, grimacing at the bruise she had no doubt gotten on her head. It took all of Amara's self-control not to breathe a sigh of relief. ' _They're okay_ ', she kept repeating to herself. ' _Mal and Evie are okay_ '. Now she could focus on the force-field that blocked the way. Once again, Amara found her self-control being tested. She clenched her fists, digging her finger nails into her skin, forcing herself to stay calm. She wanted so badly to cry out in frustration, but what good would that do her? It wouldn't bring her any closer to the answers she sought, it would serve her no purpose.

"Oh, you have gotta be freakin' _kidding_ me. A _force-field_?", Amara heard Mal rant as she stepped next to her. Evie took her place on the other side of Amara as the three girls stared up at the field blocking them from the answers they needed.

"What the hell? I thought you proved yourself already", Evie said, twisting her head towards Amara.

"So did I", Amara muttered in frustration. Hadn't she? What else was there to do? What more did the Guardian _want_ from her? What was the point of being able to enter when she couldn't even get past the _steps_ , when she couldn't even _look_ for anything?

"Guys" she heard Carlos shout-whisper to them as he tapped each of them on the shoulder. His brown eyes were saucers as they were glued to something above, and everyone followed his gaze to none other than Will-o'-the-Wisps. "Sure, _now_ they show up", Mal muttered. " _Mal_ ", Evie scolded as she elbowed the purple-haired girl in the side, her eyes never leaving the blue apparitions as they hovered above the five.

The Wisps dissolved and then reappeared in a line, leading the five to a spot on the wall, which crumbled to reveal an opening a few seconds later. Amara was the first one to step forward. After a few steps toward the opening, she realized the others weren't following her. Twisting her head around, their wary expressions greeted her. "What are you guys waiting for? Come on", she said, beckoning them with her forehead.

The four looked back and forth between each other. Was going down the dark creepy tunnel _really_ the best idea? Mind you, they'd been down dark, creepy tunnels before, but at least then, they had _some_ idea of where they were going and weren't at risk of being led astray by Will-o'-the-Wisps. Yet somehow, Amara strode in without any reservations whatsoever. Naturally, Jay was the first to follow Amara, wanting to keep her safe and not even thinking about the consequences. Evie and Carlos were right behind him. Call them crazy, but after Amara had been willing to offer herself in their place to the Guardian, they knew that she wasn't going to abandon them in the tunnels. The same couldn't be said for Mal.

"Mal, come on", Evie called after they were 10 feet into the tunnel. Mal bit her lip in hesitation, but realized a few second after that following the Wisps into the tunnel was the apparently the only way out. Glancing over her shoulder one last time, she stepped tentatively into the tunnel, catching up to the rest of them. Crumbling heard at the entrance of the tunnel caught their attention, and they saw the hole being filled with stone. It took under seven seconds for the entire hole to be closed off. "Guess there's no turning back", Carlos muttered under his breath as they began their trek through the tunnel.

Silence plagued their trek through the dimly lit tunnel, allowing Mal to drift into her thoughts. She couldn't help but wonder once again whether or not following Amara was the best idea. There was no other option, yet Mal couldn't help but wonder. The more she dwelled on it, the more the sinking feeling in grew in her chest and the pit of her stomach. Mal was uncertain of whether or not the feeling stemmed from thinking Amara was going to abandon them and leave them trapped down here to starve and die, or because she felt guilty for thinking those thoughts . How could she be certain when she wasn't even sure if she trusted Amara?

Evie and Carlos trusted her, and Jay especially, but Mal still found herself on the fence about it. In Mal's eyes, Amara had proven herself to have a good personality, but was she really a trustworthy person?. On the other hand, Amara seemed like somebody that Mal wanted on their side. What really irked her was Amara's indifference at her wariness. Mal didn't believe for one second that it didn't bother Amara. It was almost as if Mal could _sense_ her annoyance. Maybe she had the connection to thank for that. Even as Mal was brought to her knees by an invisible force, she could feel Amara's resolve as she chose her life in the place of theirs. Mal could _feel_ she was ready. Was it because she knew that it was a test? No, that couldn't be it. She recalled the look of pure astonishment in Amara's eyes once she realized that it was in fact a test. But even so, why would Amara have done that for them? Nothing she did made any sense to Mal.

For one thing, there had been plenty of opportunities for Amara to betray them. She could've chosen to shut herself completely off from them and only called them when they were needed. She could've clearly stated that this was a business arrangement, but she'd had contact with them outside of the whole situation. She gave Evie an uplifting pep-talk and she gave Carlos some self-confidence with the note telling him to quit being a pansy. Mal wasn't certain if Amara knew the significance of those actions. All their lives they'd been told that they're bad, evil, rotten, worthless, not good enough in the hopes that they'd become hardened and cruel, evil like their parents wanted them to be. The fact that Amara didn't even _know_ them very well and she helped them anyway was something that resonated with all four of them.

Amara could've looked the other way when they were seized by the invisible clutches of the Guardian. She could've sat back and watched as the Guardian slowly crushed the lives out of them, but she didn't. She was determined to keep them safe; Mal had seen it in her eyes. _Why_? If it were only Jay, she'd understand, but why did Amara care about what happened to the _rest_ of them?

Her thoughts suddenly fleeted to the urgency she and Evie felt at needing to get her to Blackborough. She recalled her gut feeling at Amara having helped them before. Before she had kidnapped them, before they even came to Auradon. It was as tangible and solid as her own body, but how could that be? It couldn't be possible, could it? Amara had only ever showed herself to Jay, but now that the idea had presented itself, the thought nagged at her. If it were true, if Amara _had_ helped her in some way while she had been on the Isle, then why couldn't she remember it? And what else was Amara keeping from them?

 _'Peace, child'_ , the Guardian whispered soothingly to her mind. Mal flinched at the sudden contact, a chill running down her spine. She had the sense that the Guardian was only talking to her.

 _'Amara does not wish any harm on any of you'._

 _'Then what does she want? Why is she doing all of this? What's her endgame?'_ , Mal thought back to the Guardian.

' _Have patience, Young Dragon. In due time, you will know all that you need to. Trust in her, have faith in your friends. It is within each other that your strength lies_ ', the Guardian said. It was with those final words that Mal felt the Guardian's presence leave her mind. The encounter only left her with more questions. "Guys. Over here!", she heard Amara call. Shaking herself of the chills, Mal jogged up to the others where they stood, catching a brief glimpse of them before the last Wisp disappeared, leaving them in complete and total darkness. A collective gasp echoed throughout the pitch-black tunnel. "Great", Mal muttered.

"I'll get some light going", Amara said. A few seconds later, a ball of fire erupted in the palm of her hand. The others jumped back a bit, but collected themselves after a few seconds. The fire lit the tunnel far better than the Wisps had, its glow making their whole group and then some perfectly visible. The glow also made the slab of flat stone perfectly visible as well. She rose the fire up, and she could see that the slab was about half as high as the tunnel of hard packed earth.

"What the hell?", Jay muttered, stepping in front of the slab. The others soon joined them.

"Hey, check this out", Carlos said, beckoning the others to a section where the slab met the earth.

"There's an indentation in the wall, right here. See?", Carlos pointed out, running his finger up and down a thin line in the wall. Both sides of the line sharply contrasted each other. On one side of the line, the hard-packed earth of the tunnel ran unevenly, naturally unkempt, but on the other side, smooth stone. ' _I wonder_ ', Amara thought to herself.

"Can somebody give us some extra light?", Amara asked. A few seconds after, flames erupted in Evie's palm. Amara snuffed out her flame and pressed her hands up against stone. Almost immediately, the slab began to rumble. Immediately, Amara sprung back, her survival instincts kicking in. "What did you do?", Mal asked, an accusatory look in her eyes.

"I barely touched it. I swear", Amara insisted. The slab began to move outward like an opening door, steps sliding out under it. Amara shared a wary glance with the group, her gaze coming back to the stone stairs. Taking one last glance down at them, she began climbing up the steps, jogging as her eagerness grew. She peered curiously through the crack in the door as the steps of the others echoed throughout the tunnel. She glanced back, noticing that they had all joined her at the top. She turned back around, pressing her body against the stone as she pushed it further and further open. The weight of it grew lighter as the four came to her aid, heaving the door open wide enough so they could all pass through.

As they filed out, the door began to close of its own accord, revealing the front of itself to be a bookcase. There was an entire maze of them. Amara stared at the books on the door as it closed so she'd know which one to come back to later. She noted how high and wide it was, but she didn't see any books sticking out. She'd have to come find the trigger later. Despite the fact that the place was nearly pitch black, by the smell of old leather and paper and the lack of the pungent, earthy aroma they'd experienced in the Archives, Amara could tell that they were definitely above ground. "Guuyyss?", she heard Mal call warily. Following the sound of her voice, they rounded the corner of the bookcase.

Upon seeing the room, Amara was certain they were in a castle. How else could everything be so ornate? From the intricately carved mahogany borders of all the bookcases, to the detailed archways separating each section of the library, to the marble floors, it wasn't difficult to figure out. The library wasn't _nearly_ as big as the Archives appeared to be, however it was still impressively sized. Mal stood on the other side of the archway. As they crossed over the threshold, new things revealed themselves to the group as they took in their surroundings. Unlit candelabras could be found all over. Stacks of books standing taller than a man, mahogany desks with books and scrolls strewn haphazardly across the surface, and two enormous chairs in front of a stone fire place as intricately carved as the bookcases it shared its residence with.

Mal stood in the middle of it all, a knowing, albeit confused air about her wide, green eyes. "Guys, we're in _Belle's_ Library", Mal said. "Why would the Wisps lead us _here_?", Mal asked rhetorically.

That was precisely what Amara wanted to know. Echoing footsteps caught her attention, her head whipping towards the door. "Someone's coming", Jay said. Everyone's attention quickly turned to the son of Jafar.

"Jay, I don't hear-", Carlos began.

"Wait, shh", Mal and Evie interrupted, silence settling over the group. Surely enough, footsteps echoed throughout the quiet library. They were growing closer.

"Quick, hide!", Jay shout-whispered to everyone. Mal, Evie and Amara ducked behind a bookcase on the other side of the archway, backing themselves as far into the corner as possible. Carlos and Jay were opposite of them, mirroring their actions. Amara stared at Jay in confusion, cocking her head to one side. How had he known someone was coming? _She_ knew someone was coming, but Jay beat her to the punch of warning everyone. How did he _know_? There was no way that was possible, unless he himself had heightened senses, which couldn't've been the case. But if it _were_ , then wouldn't he have told her? Wouldn't he have at least told Mal, Evie, or Carlos?

The more she thought about it, the more the possibility nagged at her. Maybe it had something to do with what was going on with him. Immediately, she recalled her vision before waking up in Castle Blackborough, of Jay with the golden eyes of a serpent, scales as such on his forehead and the contours of his face, needle-like fangs where his canines should've been. It was only a vision though. It could've either been symbolic or literal. Amara hardly ever knew these days.

The creak of a door echoed across the vast, empty library snagged Amara's attention, a warm, amber light illuminating the room. Amara wasn't sure what possessed her to do it, but she found herself peering around the corner of the bookcase as far as she dared as to not be discovered. As she peered around the corner, a woman in a silk robe walked through the doorway with a candelabra in hand, only a side profile visible. Because of the lack of light, Amara couldn't make out her features perfectly. While Amara's heightened senses allowed her to see clearly no matter what time of day it was, that didn't account for much if there was little light to work with.

The candelabrum the woman held illuminated the natural highlights of her honey-brown hair, her silk robe reflecting the light. Her eyes were the same color, having a gentle and also tired air about them as well, and not a middle-of-the-night-can't-sleep tired air. No, Amara _knew_ the look in the woman's eyes better than anyone. The woman was weighed down by a dark secret. The woman bent down, setting to work to start a fire. Once the fire was lit, she sat down in the smaller of the two enormous chairs standing by the fire. She stared down at her hands for what seemed like forever. What secret could this woman possibly have that would weigh her down so much?

After what felt like hours, the large mahogany door opened to reveal a tall man with a commanding presence. After searching, his eyes softened as they fell on the woman in the chair. The man stepped down to the fireplace, striding over to the woman before coming down to kneel beside her. His large hand came to rest over her smaller one where it had been resting on the arm of the chair. She realized who they both were the second the man spoke.

"Belle, it's late. What are you doing up?".

* * *

Belle hadn't breathed a word about the Eclipse to Ben, nor did any of her fellow Heroes do so with their children, to protect them. None of the staff would ever breathe a word to Ben because they were all in agreement that he didn't need to know about such things. Who could've told Ben about the Eclipse? Did he even know what the Eclipse _was_? All of these things ran through her mind when he'd asked her about the Eclipse earlier that day. Belle shuddered in her seat, the memory of that night still as clearly in her mind as though it'd happened yesterday. None of the Heroes wanted to relive the events of 20 years ago. Even as she heard the door open, she stared into the fire as if a solution would magically rise up from the flames. Then again, magic wasn't used much anymore, but what else could she do?

"Belle. It's late. What are you doing up?", her husband asked gently as he stroked the top of her hand.

"I couldn't sleep", Belle answered simply, her gaze still fixed on the fire. He heaved a knowing sigh.

"Belle, love. We talked about this. Everything's going to be alright. We, along with the rest of our fellow Heroes, are going to take care of it. We'll set everything right and our children don't have to get involved", he said reassuringly.

"It's too late for that Adam", Belle said solemnly, standing up from her chair and taking a few steps in front of the fireplace.

"What do you mean?", Adam asked as his hand slid to the small of her back. Belle turned towards her husband and slid her hands up to his solid chest. Adam's other hand slid to the small of her back so she was in his arms, his favorite place for her to be.

"Today in the library, Ben asked me if I knew anything about the Eclipse", Belle revealed to her husband. Adam's breath stilled, frozen with shock and fear for his son.

"Was it _an_ eclipse or _the_ Eclipse he asked about?", Adam asked. He didn't want to believe it was the latter. It was a part of their history that was best left forgotten.

"You know which one Adam. I tried to make that distinction among other things to distract him, but he still kept asking", she said, wishing that it were easier for her to lie. Then again, she was a Hero, on the side of good. Lying was heavily discouraged.

Belle didn't understand. Ben heard about the Eclipse every time he and the rest of Auradon Prep traveled up to Blackborough. Then again, the story Fairy Godmother chose to tell barely even scratched the surface of what truly happened that day, the truth of what it was. Even so, Ben had never expressed any interest in it. Why _now_ all of a sudden?

"Did you tell him anything?", Adam asked incredulously.

"No! No, of course not. I wouldn't put our son at risk like that", Belle insisted, pulling away from her husband, her body suddenly wracked with chills.

"Even so, someone must've mentioned it to him", Adam said, stepping towards her and wrapping his arms around her once more.

"We have to tell him", Belle said softly. Adam froze, his face plastered with shock. Had those words truly just been uttered?

"Belle, you- you can't be serious", Adam said, staring intensely into Belle's honey brown eyes.

"What other choice do we have? The Eclipse is happening this year, in a matter of _months,_ Adam. He needs to be prepared. They all do", Belle insisted. Adam released a sigh as his forehead rested against Belle's, knowing that she was right.

"I know", he whispered as he pulled his wife closer to him, her head resting against his chest. He knew sooner or later, Ben would have to know so he could do what was necessary. He was the King of Auradon now. He had a responsibility to his people, and Adam would be a hypocrite if he went back on the lessons he'd taught his son throughout his entire life, but he also knew that he'd go to any lengths to protect those he loved.

Their heads snapped up at the sound of a loud thud, synonymous with a dropped book, or more than one. Belle and Adam shared a knowing look before they shifted their gazes toward the dark places of the library. "Who's there? Come out and show yourself!", Adam's booming voice echoed throughout the library. They noticed a figure standing beside the bookcase, concealed by the darkness. Quickly, Adam snatched the candelabrum from its place on the table and brought it up to the mysterious figure.

" _Ben_?".

* * *

Ben wasn't exactly sure what possessed him to wake up in the middle of the night, then again, his mind had been buzzing with questions all day. His mother had _never_ behaved that way before. She'd always been honest with him, so in Ben's mind, it made sense she wasn't the best at lying to him. He could immediately tell the subject of the Eclipse rattled his mother, but why? What was going on? What secrets was she keeping from him?

As he approached the library, he noticed a light in the corner of his eye. His first instinct was to hide. Why? He didn't have time to think as he ducked behind a wall, peering around the corner. The light came from a candelabrum held by his mother, striding toward the library doors. As she disappeared behind the open door, Ben took his chance to slip through it before his mother even noticed. He deftly darted behind a bookcase and waited patiently, his father coming in after only a few minutes. As he listened to their conversation, the hurt planted in his chest at the knowledge that his parents were keeping secrets from him only grew. As he slowly emerged from his hiding place, concealed by the shadows of the library, he caught sight of an unexpected surprise.

From where he stood, he had a semi-clear view of what, or _who_ rather, was behind the book case and tucked into the corner. He had a perfect view of Amara's face peering around the corner. She appeared to be searching all over, something that Ben had come to know as her looking-for-all-possible-escape-routes face. Her eyes doubled in size when she finally caught sight of him. She froze, but never took her eyes off of him, waiting to see what he did next. Her eyes were almost pleading. Ben looked back and forth between his parents and her. He knew she wasn't supposed to be here. She snuck in here uninvited, but he knew now that his parents were keeping secrets from him. So who was he supposed to trust?

As Amara broke eye contact to look back behind her, Ben followed her gaze. From where he stood, while he couldn't make out colors, he could make out two shapes. As he squinted his eyes, their features gradually became more apparent. Mal and Evie sat close to her tucked into the corner as far as they could get in. Ben knew what he had to do. Reaching his hand up to a book beside him, he pulled it out from its place, bringing more books clattering on the floor with it. Maybe one book would've done, but it certainly got their attention. "Who's there? Come out and show yourself!", his father's booming voice echoed throughout the entire library, no doubt. Ben stayed where he was, stilled hidden by the shadows of the library. His father snatched the candelabrum from the table, striding to where he was and holding the candelabrum to his face. His father's face froze with shock as soon as he saw him. " _Ben_?", his father said incredulously, receding from his son. Ben said nothing. What was he supposed to say?

"How much did you hear?", Belle asked nervously, approaching her son, reaching out her hand and touching his arm. Ben backed away from his mother's touch.

"Enough", he replied coldly as he turned toward the door.

"Ben", his father said as his parents followed after him. At feeling his father's large hand on his shoulder, Ben turned around to be greeted by his parents pleading expressions.

"Ben, please. You have to trust us", Belle pleaded.

He said nothing, paying attention to what was going on in his peripheral vision. Amara acknowledged his distraction with a small nod. She turned to the others, urgently motioning for them to go. Jay and Carlos emerged from the other side. Ben wasn't surprised they were with the girls. Before Amara followed after them, she turned towards Ben. ' _Thank you_ ', she mouthed at him before she joined the rest of them, being the last to go. As Amara disappeared, his gaze shifted downward.

"How can I trust you when you won't even tell me what's going on, when I know you're lying to me? How do I know you aren't keeping anything else from me?", Ben asked truthfully, exiting the library. As he strode down the corridor, he heard the pitter-patter and booming echo of his parent's footsteps. He let out a small breath of relief as he realized they had followed him out of the library. Hopefully, he'd bought enough time for Amara and the others to find a way out.

* * *

Mal, Evie, Jay, Carlos and Amara tip-toed to the back of the library as fast as they dared, making sure to stay on the carpet as much as they could to muffle the sounds of their footsteps. "This way, you guys", Amara said, guiding them back to the entrance. They followed her into the maze of books, not having time to question whether or not she knew where she was going.

"Over here", she shout-whispered after turning around what felt like a dozen corners. They stood in front of the bookcase they'd come through.

"Quick. Start pulling books but don't take them out of the shelf. We need to find the trigger", Amara instructed. With a nod of understanding, the VK's set to work. At least they would've had the bookcase not opened of its own accord. The group decided they didn't have time to question it. "Go, go go", Amara instructed urgently as she ushered them all inside. She was the last to enter the tunnels, leaping down the steps, unwittingly caught by Jay when she reached the bottom. He held her waist tightly, her hands resting on his chest as they all watched the entrance close behind them, once more being left in pitch black darkness.

"You alright?", he asked gently, his hands sliding up to her elbows.

"Yeah. Thanks", Amara said breathlessly as she slid out of his warm embrace. She shook her head, focusing on the here and now, and _now_ was not the time to be fantasizing about Jay.

"Okay, that was _way_ too close", Carlos panted.

"We're not out of the woods yet. We need to get out of here", Amara said.

"How? I mean, we don't even-", Mal began before blue light of the Wisps appeared from thin air. Amara felt a smile tug at the corner of her lips. The little guys had come through. "Well, that must be our cue", Carlos pointed out.

"Let's go", Evie said, running along to path the Wisps formed. It was highly unlikely that Belle and Beast even _knew_ about this passage, but the group wasn't about to take any chances. Mal and Carlos followed suit, Amara and Jay trailing close behind. Their pace quickened as they followed the Wisps path. On and on, they ran throughout the tunnels, making every possible turn so often, it got to the point where they were absolutely _certain_ they were traveling in circles, exhausted from their unfinished trek. They'd long since lost track of time, and they began to stumble on their own feet, slowing their pace when they could no longer run.

"Where are they even taking us? The trip from the Archives didn't take _this_ long", Evie said breathlessly, leaning on the side of the tunnel for support.

"Then they must not be taking us back to the Archives", Amara reasoned. It made sense, since as Evie said, the trip from the Archives to Belle's library didn't take nearly as long as the trek they were taking right now. But if that were the case, then where _were_ they being taken?

"Guys", Carlos said breathlessly, jerking his chin towards the direction they were going. The Wisps disappeared only to reveal an opening far away. Without thinking, the group sprinted toward the midnight blue hole, which grew bigger as the distance between them shortened. The cool night breeze was a soothing balm to their aching muscles as they filed out of the tunnel. Mal and Evie leaned against each other for support, breathing heavily partly from relief they'd gotten out of the tunnels without getting caught, also because the outside, fresh air was a welcome replacement for the dank, moldy air of the tunnels. As they all raised their heads, they were shocked to be back at the tourney field, back at Auradon Prep. No wonder it'd taken them so long to get out.

"Ooh, man. I'll say it again, that was _way_ too close", Carlos panted, leaning back against a tall tree.

"No kidding", Jay agreed, stealing a glance at Amara, who leaned on one hand pressed against a nearby tree to steady herself.

"I'm just glad we're back at school. Uggh, I need to take a shower", Mal said.

"Us too", Carlos agreed, gesturing between himself and Jay. Jay and Carlos still dawned their tourney uniforms from earlier that day, so they looked especially grimy. Evie pulled out her phone to check the time. "It's 10 o'clock. We better get back to the dorms", Evie said. The group all nodded in acknowledgement. Wait a minute. The game started at 4:00, 15 minutes after school had ended. They'd been gone for _6_ hours?

"Okay, see you guys tomorrow", Evie yawned as she and Mal began to walk back to their dorm.

"Yeah. See you guys", Carlos yawned in response, heading in the direction of his dorm, too tired at the moment to question why Jay wasn't following him right away. As Carlos, Mal and Evie grew further away, Jay's fist drummed nervously at his side. He was alone with Amara, but his mind drew a blank as he tried to find something to say to her.

"You okay?", Amara asked, noticing his unease. He felt himself relax as she grew closer to him, coming to stand two feet away from him. He resisted the urge to take her hand in his.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't freak out if I don't wake up until Monday", Jay said. Amara giggled at his comment, smiling down shyly.

"I better get back to my dorm", he said, turning to walk towards the tourney field.

"Okay, I think I'm gonna stay out here a bit longer", she said sheepishly.

"You sure?", he asked.

"Yeah. my roommate won't notice I'm gone. It definitely beats walking back alone to reflect on your failures", Amara said. Jay's head cocked to one side. Was she talking about _him_? What had he done?

"I mean, not _your_ failures. You did nothing wrong at all. I just meant like 'you' as in general, like-", Amara babbled, making Jay's features melt into a smile.

"What?", she asked as they walked, noting his grin.

"You're cute when you babble", Jay said cheekily, laughing as Amara smacked him in the side playfully.

"Jerk", she chuckled, smiling down shyly once more. Jay took a small step closer to her, never taking his eyes away.

"In all seriousness, it wasn't your fault. You didn't ask for the Archives to be a douche", Jay said, trying to comfort her as they began to walk down.

She giggled at his comment, sending him an appreciative glance. Absentmindedly, she reached into her pocket, pulling out the golden necklace. No doubt Aziz was going to come looking for it.

"Is that the necklace?", Jay asked, taking a step towards her to get a better look at it.

"Yeah. I don't know what it is, but I can't stop thinking about it", she admitted. She lifted her head to look him in the eye. "Is it true? Does Aziz ever go anywhere without this?", Amara asked.

"Not that I've seen. He has a necklace of his own though. It has an elephant charm", Jay answered. Amara kept staring down at the necklace. She almost felt as though it were _calling_ to her. But that couldn't be the case, could it? It didn't even _belong_ to her.

"So then who could this belong to?", Amara asked softly, the question directed at no one.

"I have no idea. Maybe its a family heirloom or it belongs to his mother", Jay suggested. Amara nodded in agreement. As of right now, those were the only ideas they had.

"I still can't believe he followed us though. Why?", Amara mused as they began to walk down to the unlit tourney field. She was still betting that Fairy Godmother had put him up to it.

"I could ask him about it", Jay offered, wanting to help in any way he could.

"Well, we should probably wait until we know more about his involvement", Amara pointed out. Jay nodded in agreement. It'd be best to avoid causing a scene as much as possible, and he knew Aziz was the type of person who wanted to cause a scene as much as Jay wanted all of Auradon to know he was becoming some cobra-human freak of nature.

"But thanks for offering", Amara added, nervously tucking her hair behind her head.

"Of course", Jay said, giving her elbow a brief squeeze before letting his hand fall back to his side.

"Well, I'd better head back. See you later", Jay said, heading in the direction of his dorm. A few seconds of silence passed as he walked. Jay contemplated turning back and offering to walk her to her dorm.

"Jay! Wait!", Amara called. Jay turned back at the sound of her voice. She jogged up to him, her hair flowing back and forth.

"What's up?", he asked as she approached. She bit her lip nervously, staying quiet for a few seconds before exhaling a sigh of resolve.

"Yes", she said simply.

"Yes?", Jay said inquiringly, confused at what she was talking about.

"At the tourney game today, you asked me if I'd be your date to the Heritage Festival, but then we got rudely interrupted, as you know", Amara reminded him, knitting her fingers together. Jay felt a grin begin to form as he realized what her 'yes' could mean. "So you're saying…", Jay purposefully trailed off, his lips curling up gradually into a grin.

"That I would _love_ to go to the Heritage Festival with you", Amara finished, a bashful smile bringing attention to her blushing cheeks. The grin that'd been forming on Jay's face now threatened to split his face right down the middle. For a few seconds, he said nothing. He felt as though he were in a dream and pinched himself in the side to make sure he wasn't.

"I mean, that is, if you still _want_ me to", she said warily, a confused air about her as she cocked her head to one side in response to his silence. Her words snapped him out of his stupor.

"No, no, no, yeah. Yes, of course I want you to. Why wouldn't I?", he said quickly, not having time to think about what came out of his mouth. Of course he wanted to go with her. He'd be an idiot not to, but of course, he rushed and now she'd be weirded out by his forwardness, or would she? ' _Nice going Jay. Way to play it cool_ ', he chastised himself, that is until he noticed her lips curling up into a grin of their own, warm as the sun and as excited as he felt.

"Okay. I'll see you Saturday", she said sincerely.

"Yeah, see you Shadow!", he called as she began to walk away.

"I can't wait!", she called back, glancing and waving back at him with a smile. Jay kept glancing back at her as he began to walk back to his dorm; she became smaller and smaller until she was a speck on the tourney field from where he was. As soon as he was sure he was a good distance away, he leapt up excitedly, throwing his fist elatedly in the air. "Yes!", he shout-whispered as he jumped up, careful not to make too much noise. ' _She said yes. She's my date to the Heritage Festival. She said yes!'_. The thought replayed a million times as Jay jogged back to his dorm, his heart pounding with an anticipation that far overshadowed his burdens.


	16. Getting Ready

**Chapter 15**

Amara walked all the way back to her dorm alone, and though her feet were touching the ground, she felt like her mind was barely working, as though it drifted across the clouds in a dream-like haze. Had all of that _seriously_ just happened? Had it a figment of her imagination, a dream, or had it been reality? Had she really said _yes_ to Jay's Heritage Festival proposal? Was she actually going with him? Would she _actually_ be able to participate in a normal celebration with other people, with people she knew at least? Would she get to be a normal teenager for once, if only for a little while?

' _Should I really be doing this? Should I let myself be distracted by festivities? I have a job to do'_ , she thought to herself, her skepticism kicking in, which was soon overshadowed by her elation. She was going to the Heritage Festival. Maybe she'd actually have _fun_ for the first time what felt like forever, not to mention she was going with Jay, an added bonus if anyone asked her. She wondered if she'd want to explore their relationship more after this. She found herself smile, her cheeks warming at the thought of him.

Jay had been so sweet tonight. He'd been so quick to reassure her he still wanted her as his date, slow to go back to his dorm, and frankly, so was she. Jay wanted to make sure she'd be alright after what happened tonight, and for some reason, he'd been stealing glances at her since they'd gotten out of the tunnel. The memory of it, still fresh on her mind, made her cheeks heat undoubtedly into a blush. He'd even offered to question Aziz for her. While she was touched by the offer, she didn't want him to get in trouble for something that might blow out of proportion. Jay had already done so much for her. What had she done to deserve that?

' _You're way overthinking this. You guys haven't even gone on a first date yet! Don't contemplate why Jay does what he does. Quit thinking like an infatuated teenager!_ ', she told herself. She shook her head back and forth, dispelling the thoughts from her head, or at least attempting to, but couldn't shake the image of his warm smile, or the way his dark eyes held concern for her when she had been unconscious in the Archives.

Who was she kidding? She _was_ infatuated with him. Either that or she still held a small amount of residual feelings from six years ago when they had known each other before, or both, but she hadn't been infatuated with him then. Maybe that was what Jay felt for her. Maybe residual feelings were _all_ he had for her. Maybe that was the only reason he was being so kind to her. Her heart sank at the thought. Again, she shook her head back and forth, dispelling the negative thoughts once more. As always, she was getting way ahead of herself. Deciding to sleep on it, a fog of exhaustion seeped into her as she grew closer to her dorm. When she heard the sounds of a running shower, she immediately sobered. After a few seconds, the sounds stopped and Amara could hear steps in the room.

Her first thought was that Jordan was using it. Then she remembered there was a bathroom in Jordan's lamp. In fact, she rarely ever _saw_ Jordan, so who else could be in her room? Amara tensed her entire body as she picked up a nearby vase, slowly stepping towards the door. She reached for the knob little by little. When her hand finally closed around it, she twisted the knob quickly and raised the vase, ready to smash it over any intruders. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey! It's us!", shouted a familiar voice, breaking through her survival mode mentality.

"Mal?", Amara said as she lowered the vase, the purple-haired girl's hands raised to protect herself from Amara's wrath.

"What are you _doing_ in here? I could've killed you", Amara asked with exasperation as she set the vase down on her nightstand.

"Yeah, I don't doubt it. Our shower's broken. Jordan said Evie and I could use yours. She's here too, by the way, just so you don't smash a vase over her head", Mal ranted.

"Okay, well at least give me a heads up before you decide to come barging in here", Amara retorted.

"We _did_. We sent you a text so this", she gestured between the two of them, "would be avoided". Amara glanced down at her pocket as it vibrated. She shoved her hand into it and pulled out her phone. Sure enough, it was lit up with a text from Evie asking to use the shower, and then another text from Mal saying they were going to use the shower because Jordan said it was okay.

"Oh", Amara said as she looked down sheepishly. "Sorry. I must not have heard it vibrate the first time", she apologized.

"If by that you mean 'preoccupied by a certain _son of Jafar_ ', then yes, you _totally_ didn't hear it vibrate", Evie chimed in mischievously as she stepped out of the bathroom clad in nothing but a towel, her wet hair splayed all across her back in wavy tendrils.

"Oooh, that's _right_ ", Mal said mischievously as she flashed an impish grin Amara's way, joining Evie on the bed. Amara couldn't've stopped the heat rushing to her cheeks no matter how hard she'd have tried to force it down.

"So, what were you two talking about?", Evie asked in a sugary tone, resting her chin in the palm of her hand, drumming her fingertips up against her cheek as she gave Amara one of her most playful smirks.

"Nothing", Amara groaned, peeling off her jacket and hanging it up on the hook by the bathroom, taking her sweet time so they wouldn't see the heat of her blush.

"I can tell you're lying", Mal singsonged.

"Uh huh", Amara said, thinking Mal was only teasing her.

"No, seriously. Our minds are connected, remember?", Mal pointed out, tapping her head. Evie nodded in agreement and tapped her head as well.

" _Nothing_ happened", Amara insisted as she took a seat on the window sill and folded her arms over her chest.

"Liar", Evie said. "Come _on_. Aside from our handy little mind link, the fact that I can see it plain as day all over your face proves something happened between you two", she said, waggling her eyebrows.

"Again Evie, nothing happened", Amara insisted once more, staring Evie right in the eye.

"Come _on._ I told you about _my_ boy troubles", she reminded Amara.

"Evie", Amara began.

"And, I can sense you don't want to make this into a big deal, and I promise I won't", she promised. Amara sat in silence, biting her lip in contemplation.

"Please?" Evie whined, pushing out her lower lip in a slight pout. Staring at Evie made Amara's resolve crumble bit by bit.

"She's not gonna stop until you give her what she wants. Just letting you know that now", Mal commented as she lounged on the bed wearing a sly smirk. Amara was beginning to get frustrated. Why did they want to know about what happened? Why did they relentlessly pursue the answer? Why did it _matter_ to them? Why did any aspect of her life matter to them? ' _They only want to know because it concerns Jay. They're only being nice to me because of Jay, because they saw my memories of him_ ', Amara thought. That reasoning made more sense to her than the others actually _caring_ about her, but some microscopic part of her wanted to believe they genuinely cared about her for _her_ , not for someone else. What harm would it do to tell them what happened?

"Fine, but you have to promise not to flip out", Amara said. Evie gave a triumphant smirk as she joined Mal back on the bed. Amara let out a sigh before she began to speak.

"Okay, so, Jay may or may not have asked me to be his date to the Heritage Festival", Amara said, shutting her mouth as soon as she saw their incredulous faces.

"And I may or may not have said yes".

* * *

The entire following week, every day was spent preparing for the festival. It was the only thing people were talking about in all of Amara's classes. Every. Single. Day. Everyone talked about their dresses, their second outfits, their hair, their makeup, who their date was, what booths they were going to visit first, etc. Of course, Evie was up to her neck in orders and it got to the point where she and Mal had to assist in part of the process, and despite their annoyance at being Evie's human mannequins because she hadn't had enough, Amara _did_ get to help Evie a bit with the actual process of designing. Amara was glad she could help Evie in some way. She welcomed the distraction. It wasn't as if she had anything better to do.

Strangely enough, Remedial Goodness had once again been cancelled that week, so Amara and the others had extra free time, free time Amara used to try and find out more, but to no avail. She hadn't had any visions for the past week, and she was beginning to get a bit anxious, but she knew she had to be patient. They'd come when she needed to see something, which apparently wasn't anytime this week. Maybe something was amiss. But then again, when was something _not_ amiss?

But now wasn't the time to think about such things. Today was Saturday, the day of the Festival. Today was the day everyone was fussing about, the day Amara anxiously awaited, the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach growing with each passing day. Down the hall she walked, her heart beating faster as she approached the door to Mal and Evie's room, because she knew that in a few hours, she was going to be right at the heart of Auradon Prep for all to see.

* * *

"Uggh, where _is_ she? She should be here by now", Evie asked no one in particular as she tapped nervously on the table beside her.

"Why does it matter? She can get ready in her own room", asked Mal, a confused look in the purple-haired girl's eyes.

"Because I just finished her outfits", Evie answered. That wasn't the only reason though.

"Outfits?", Mal said, looking up from the sketchbook.

"Yeah. Amara's been one of my mannequins for the past week. I was able to get her measurements. I hope she doesn't suspect anything. I want to surprise her", Evie said, tapping nervously on the table once more, staring at the door as though she could make Amara would arrive quicker with her sheer will alone.

"Why?", Mal asked, staring at her friend with a confused expression.

"Mal, she's been such a big help this week and she hasn't complained once. Plus, she's been nothing but nice to us. I mean, did Carlos tell you about the note?", Evie asked. Mal gave a nod, prompting Evie to continue.

"Besides, after what happened last Friday, I wanted to do something nice for her. And if she thinks she's wearing normal clothes like she said, she can just forget it", Evie insisted.

"Okay, but _why_? What does she get out of it? What's her endgame?", Mal asked no one in particular.

"Why are you so against the idea that maybe she's not looking to gain anything? That she has ulterior motives? Hasn't she proven herself to you?", Evie countered.

Evie wasn't sure why, but to hear Mal talk about Amara in such a way didn't sit well with her. After everything that happened with Amara, how was Mal _still_ wary of her? She sighed and decided to ignore it. Mal was naturally skeptical of people, and besides, today was the _Heritage_ _Festival_. Evie wasn't going to let anything ruin it. Mal let out a huff, turning her attention back to her sketchbook. Evie's head snapped at the sound, turning to face her friend.

"What?", Evie asked.

Mal sighed before plopping her sketchbook on her nightstand, tapping her knee quickly before speaking. "It's been bugging me ever since we got out of the tunnels last Friday", Mal admitted.

"What's been bugging you?", asked Evie, walking to the edge of Mal's bed and wrapped her hand around the canopy post.

"In the cavern when we thought the life was being squeezed out of us, I was so sure Amara was going to sacrifice one of us. She looked like she was even considering it. Why didn't she?", Mal asked no one in particular.

"Just be grateful she didn't. I know she's only been here a few weeks, but I'm pretty sure if she wanted to off us, she'd have already done it", Evie said.

"I mean, not to mention the fact that she's keeping secrets from us. Surprise, surprise", Mal ranted, as if Evie had never spoken.

"Of course she's keeping secrets from us. This is _Amara_ we're talking about", Evie said.

"And you're okay with that? What about what we felt last Friday? We _know_ that we've crossed paths with her before all of this happened. The question is how exactly did that go down and why can't we remember it?", Mal said.

"Why are you so concerned about this? Do you not trust her?", Evie asked, wanting Mal to confirm it.

"Yes, no, maybe? I don't know", Mal said in frustration.

"Mal, if Amara's keeping secrets, then it's for good reason. She has a bigger heart than she cares to admit, that much I can tell. She's not going to turn her back on us", Evie pointed out.

"Believe me, I know that, Evie. I can sense it inside of her and I know you can too. But _why_?", Mal said.

"What do you mean?", asked Evie.

"If it were Jay, I'd understand completely, but why does she give a crap about what happens to the rest of us?", Mal asked. "I mean, doesn't it strike you as strange even a _little_ bit?".

"All I know is, she's had plenty of chances to turn on us, but she hasn't", Evie pointed out.

"Not yet", Mal muttered. Evie heaved an exasperated sigh and came to sit on the edge of Mal's bed.

"Look Mal, I know she hasn't been around long, but I trust her. So does Carlos, and if _Jay_ of all people trusts her, then you _know_ it's for a good reason", Evie said, getting up from the bed and springing back to her work table. Mal bit her lip in contemplation, her gaze downcast. Every time she saw Amara that week, every time she _thought_ of the obsidian-haired girl, the memory of what happened in the cavern refused to leave her. She'd only known this girl for a month and a half, and yet somehow, the thought of Amara sacrificing herself, the fact that she'd immediately been willing to put herself in that position left a sick feeling in the pit of Mal's stomach and a tightness squeezed her chest. Why?

"Alright, enough of all this talk. Lonnie, Jane and Jordan are coming too, and this room is already enough of a madhouse as it is", Evie said, setting to work on the finishing touches of her dress, at least she would've, had there not been a sharp knock at the door a few seconds later.

* * *

Jane was the first to arrive, Lonnie following a few minutes after. Her heart pounded with each passing second. She couldn't help but think about tonight. Many fleeting thought crossed her mind, holding excitement, but she couldn't help the worrisome thoughts and voices that surfaced as well. What would Carlos think? Would he show up to the door like a proper gentleman? Or would he stand her up for someone more beautiful? Would she look beautiful _enough_?

Wait, what was she thinking? None of that could _possibly_ be true. If she recalled, Carlos asked her when she was in mascot mode, even as she awkwardly stumbled around her fake armor, even as rivulets of sweat poured down her face, even as her hair was flattened, dirty and stuck to her face in the most undesirable way, he still asked her. When she had been so forward as to kiss him square on the lips in front of _everyone_ , he hadn't been embarrassed of her. He'd returned her kiss with fervor, but it carried a tenderness you wouldn't from an Isle boy. She blushed at the memory of it.

' _Everything's gonna be okay. As long as_ you _feel beautiful, nothing's going to spoil your night_ ', Jane kept telling herself.

"Jane? Jane. Are you listening?", asked Jordan, waving her hand in front of the girl's face.

"Huh?", she said, snapping out of her haze.

"I was asking you if you'd be willing to do an interview on my channel. Everyone'll want to know what it was like to have a VK as your date", Jordan said.

"Oh, uh, um sure", Jane stuttered, nervously tucking her hair behind her head, heat rushing to her cheeks.

"Looks like you won't be needing that blush after all", Evie teased. As soon as Jane looked in the mirror, she quickly darted her gaze down, trying and failing to conceal the evidence of her not-so-secret thoughts that were so clearly written on her flushed cheeks. She couldn't help her self-consciousness as the others' snickers filled her ears. A sudden sharp knock at the door snatched Jane's attention away from the mirror, and the negative thoughts came in full force when a new face entered the room.

The girl was tall and wiry with long, glossy obsidian hair that hung in loose curls. Her skin was the color of caramel and almost gave off a bronze glow, a glow Jane didn't have. Her fitted t-shirt showed off her perfect curves, curves Jane didn't have. Her nose was as long and slender as the rest of her, and her cheekbones were to die for. Her rich dark eyes looked upon them with indifference, and the vibe she gave off was enough to make anyone crumble at the knees.

"There you are, Amara! It's about time you showed up", Evie said, scolding the girl and giving her a brief hug. Huh, so this was the new girl. Great, just _great_. Amara's gaze shifted, and the two made eye contact for half of a second before Jane returned her attention back to the mirror in front of her, hoping Amara hadn't caught her staring, hoping Amara couldn't see the envy and insecurities bubbling within her.

* * *

When Amara first walked into the room, pairs of eyes scrutinized her every move. At least, that's how she viewed it. Aside from Mal and Evie, there were three other girls here. Jordan glanced at her and then resumed her primping, while the other's eyes stayed on her. Amara tensed, not used to so much attention at one time, especially from two unfamiliar faces. Both of them had long brown hair. One of them had a golden skin tone with chocolate brown, almond shaped eyes that spoke of Asian descent. Amara could sense a certain warmth within the girl, even if she never smiled, which didn't appear to be the case.

The second girl's hair was darker than the first with light olive skin. Everything about her, from her small, round face to her plump lips to her baby blue eyes, screamed innocence. She eyed Amara with wide and slightly cautious eyes, having a timid air about her. This made Amara confused. This girl had never even met her, so why did she look like she thought Amara was going to bite? The more Amara stared at the girl, the more she recognized her.

This was Jane, the Fairy Godmother's daughter. She was a naturally shy girl, having an almost fearful look in her eyes every time she was around others, constantly intimidated. Something else about her struck Amara with a sense of déjà vu. This was the first time she got a close look at Jane. As she stared more, the image of the cathedral surrounded the timid girl. It was then Amara knew where she'd seen this girl before.

This was the girl who went crazy at the coronation. This was the girl who grabbed one of the most powerful magical weapons in existence, waved it around like a maniac because she couldn't handle its power, and inadvertently punched a hole in the dome, all because she was obsessed with changing her appearance, with becoming more beautiful. Even if she wasn't Fairy Godmother's daughter, Amara still would've been wary of her.

"There you are. It's about time you showed up", Evie said, striding over to Amara and giving her a hug so brief, Amara didn't have time to tense at the action.

"What are you and Mal still doing here? Don't you guys have to set up for the Festival?", Amara asked, trying to divert the attention away from her.

"We did all the heavy lifting yesterday. All we have to do now is show up early", Evie explained. Amara gave a nod of understanding and her eyes began to wander around the room, locking eyes with one of the Unfamiliars, the Asian girl.

"Hi, I don't think we've met before", the Asian girl said as she got up to greet Amara. "I'm Lonnie", she introduced herself.

"Mulan's daughter?", Amara guessed. Mulan was the only Hero she could think of that descended from Asia. Lonnie's eyes widened, surprise filling them.

"Yeah. Yes, oh my gosh. _Finally_! How'd you know?", Lonnie asked excitedly.

"Lucky guess", Amara said, looking to Mal and cocking her head to one side, certain a confused expression crossing her face.

"No one ever knows who her mother is", Mal explained.

'Ah', Amara mouthed, nodding in understanding as Lonnie went back to her seat with a smile, resuming her primping. Jane still remained in her peripheral vision. Amara could immediately tell the girl was intimidated by her. Deciding to go just a bit further, she listened only to find Jane's racing heartbeat as she stared at Amara. As she made eye contact with her, Jane quickly turned away, resuming her primping in the mirror.

"Just go ahead and take a seat", Evie said, gesturing to an empty chair on the other side of the room. Keeping her composure relaxed and cool, Amara walked over and took a seat next to Jane. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the timid girl tensing at her approach. Seriously? What was this girl's problem? Why did she seem so nervous around Amara? Amara had only ever seen her once, and even then they hadn't met. Why was Jane acting like she was going to bite her head off?

For a couple of hours, Amara sat in silence, the background conversations fading around her as she focused on her makeup, trying to emulate what Evie was doing. Evie always held the brush from the middle and used light strokes, almost as though she were painting a masterpiece. In a way, she was. Amara couldn't help but be captivated by Evie's focus, but quickly turned back to her mirror and applying her foundation, using upward strokes with her blush like Evie taught her. After she applied mascara, she picked up a nearby pin-tail comb to work on her hair. By this point, everyone was using the bathroom to change into their outfits.

"Hey", she heard Evie's voice say, a hand lightly tapping her shoulder. Amara turned around, her attention now on the blue-haired princess.

"I have something to show you", she said, excitement glimmering in her eyes. Amara cocked her head to one side as she slowly rose from her chair. What could Evie possibly have to show her? Wait a minute, was Amara right? Had she been right all along? Was she finally going to meet the wrath of the Evil Queen's daughter? Was revenge finally going to be exacted, weeks after Amara had kidnapped them? Had they been planning this all along?

"Stand right there and close your eyes", Evie instructed. At this, Amara gave her a wary look.

"Relax. This is a good surprise", Evie reassured, almost as if she knew what Amara was thinking. Either that, or Amara wasn't controlling her body language as much as she'd like. Heaving a sigh, Amara reluctantly closed her eyes, tapping nervously at her side. A few seconds passed and Amara could feel her entire body tensing into survival mode, ready to escape by any means necessary. She heard a noise like a zipper being pulled.

"Okay, open your eyes", Evie said excitedly. Still hesitant, Amara did as the blue-haired princess instructed, being greeted by the sight of Evie holding out a garment bag for her.

"Evie", Amara began to protest, but the blue-haired princess would have none of it, raising her hand to silence Amara.

"If you think I'm letting you parade around in those normal clothes at the Heritage Festival, you've got another thing coming", Evie said as she shoved the garment bag in Amara's face.

"Now go try it on".

* * *

As Jane stepped out of the bathroom, she soon discovered that Amara had no qualms about changing in front of other people. She got a view of Amara's bare back, also as wiry as the rest of her body. Wonderful, her back was perfect too? That's just _wonderful_. But as Jane stared more, she caught a glimpse of discolored lines running down Amara's right side. Were those scars?

Jane was snapped out of her musings by a wolf-whistle from Jordan. "Dang girl. Talk about sexy back", Jordan commented brazenly.

"I didn't know you were into girls Jordan", Amara retorted, and Jane could notice a hint of a smirk on the girl's lips as she slipped the rest of the dress on, zipping up the back, covering the lines. Jane wondered if the others noticed.

"Hey, everyone here was thinking it regardless of their sexuality", Jordan shot back, earning a giggle from the other girls in the room. ' _No kidding'_ , Jane thought. Once again, Amara had her beat. Jane felt her envy growing with each passing second. Just as Amara began to turn around, Evie quickly rushed to her side.

* * *

"Alright, aaand done. Now you can look", Evie said, grabbing Amara's shoulders. As Amara had about to turn and see what the dress looked like on her, Evie stopped her and insisted she needed to complete her makeup. ' _Just the eyes',_ she'd said. Amara shrugged as Mal reminded her that resistance was futile against the blue-haired princess. Sure, Evie _only_ had the eyes to do, and the cheeks, and the lips, and the hair. Amara could practically taste Evie's excitement as she ushered her over to the body length mirror in the middle of the room. When Amara finally caught sight of her reflection, she froze and nearly stopped breathing.

She thought the same thing she did when she'd been made over for the Welcoming Ceremony over a month and a half ago, only this time, the feeling was multiplied by ten. There was no _way_ the girl in the mirror could be her. Her face appeared longer and more angular, highlighted in all the right places. Her hair was deeply parted to the right, the side with less hair sectioned into micro dutch braids. Her eyes drew the most attention, a maroon smokey eye with a bold wing and gold on the inner corners of her eyes to make them pop.

The dress was made of maroon satin, having a glossy look about it, the color going beautifully with her skin, the strapless, ruched bust having a sweetheart neckline. The handkerchief hem of the dress ended just above her knees, bringing focus to her long, shapely legs. The dark brown leather waist cincher accentuated her curves, a pair of ankle boots with buckles on them to complete the look.

"So…", Evie trailed off. Amara couldn't stop staring at herself. The dress was so beautifully simple, yet had a unique twist to it. Evie had gotten her measurements perfectly and paid attention to her style. Amara's heart warmed with gratitude for the blue-haired princess.

"I, it's-". Amara couldn't even finish her sentence, touched by the fact that Evie went out of her way to make this for her.

"You're welcome", Evie said, wearing a knowing smile. Amara reciprocated with a smile of her own at the blue-haired princess. "Jay's not gonna be able to keep his eyes off of you".

"Or his hands", Jordan snickered. Everyone's head snapped towards the genie, an incredulous look on their faces, even Amara.

"Jordan!", Evie scolded, stifling a giggle.

"Hey, you have to admit, she's got a point". Mal snickered, dodging a pillow that Evie chucked at her. Amara could feel her face going red at Mal's comment, but instead of falling victim to the teasing, she decided to play the game.

"Well, that being the case…", Amara trailed off, a mischievous glint in her eye as she began to sway her hips with enthusiasm to an unknown beat, the dress flowing with her movements, waving her arms gracefully as Mal, Lonnie and Jordan playfully encouraged and wolf-whistled at her.

"Okay, okay let's keep it PG in here", Evie giggled, halting Amara's movements as she grabbed her shoulders.

"Don't you have to get ready Evie?", Mal pointed out with a snicker, distracting the blue-haired girl.

"Yeah and apparently I'm also your keeper", Evie retorted as she rolled her eyes and stepped into the bathroom, taking her outfit with her.

* * *

A few hours later, Mal, Evie and Jordan had already left to go set up, leaving Amara, Lonnie and Jane alone with each other. The three sat in silence, knowing the boys would pick them up soon, and Lonnie and Jane took the time to do some last minute primping. Lonnie donned a red qipao dress with gold accents. She curled her hair into ringlets and pinned a few to frame her face, her mother's flower comb tucked into the side of her hair.

Jane tapped into her fairy roots, wearing a light blue dress, the bust made with shimmery, loose silk. Lines of ruching took up the bust, the skirt hanging elegantly in skillfully cut strips of organza that curled and ended in points and flowed with her movements. Her entire body was covered in a thin layer of shimmering lotion, so when the moonlight shined on her, she glowed with it. The same shimmer highlighted her face, a pair of sparkling false eyelashes bringing attention to her baby blue eyes. She wore small, intricate ear cuffs that only took up the top of her earlobe to give the illusion of pointed ears, and her hair hung in delicate ringlets, pinned strategically to frame her face.

Despite her looking like a beautiful fairy, still she couldn't help her envy, couldn't help but feel even smaller as she noticed Amara's reflection in the mirror. How was she supposed to compete with such alluring, exotic beauty? How could she even _compare_? Then again, Amara wasn't all perfect. Jane had seen the imperfections running down Amara's right side. The more she thought about it, the more certain she became that they were scars. The question was, how had she _gotten_ them? Was she in an accident, or did she go looking for trouble and face the consequences?

"Hey, Jane?", Lonnie said. The young fairy turned around at the sound of the girl's voice.

"If you keep touching your face, you're gonna ruin your makeup and Evie's not around to fix it", Lonnie warned.

"I know. I know", Jane conceded, "but I just feel like there's something missing. I know there's something I can do better", she insisted, turning back to the mirror to resume her excessive primping.

"Come _on_ ", Lonnie said, walking up behind Jane and squeezing her shoulders, aware of the young fairy's insecurities. "You look fine, Jane. You're gonna kill it", Lonnie said, trying to reassure her.

"That's just it. I don't want to look just _fine_ ", Jane said, trying to make the girl understand.

"Jane, there's nothing wrong with your look", Lonnie said.

"Actually-", Amara began. "You were right Jane. There _is_ one thing missing".

Great, now she was going to get beauty advice from the _new girl_ of all people, the very person that sparked her envy. Amara got up from her seat on the bed and walked over to Jane, taking her hand and leading her to the full length mirror at the end of the room. Stepping so that she was right behind Jane, Amara took hold of the girl's shoulders.

"Pull your shoulders back. Open up your chest", Amara instructed, still holding the girl's shoulders. Jane's head turned to face Amara, a confused look in her eyes. Amara moved her hands up to Jane's face and turned it back towards the mirror.

"Don't look at me. Look at yourself, okay? Now pull your shoulders back like this", Amara instructed, pulling Jane's shoulders back, opening her chest.

"Good. Now raise your chin", Amara said, sliding her fingers under the fairy girl's small chin, lifting it. Amara receded from the girl, leaving her to her own opinions. Jane's eyes widened at the change. She looked _5_ times better than normal, and only from a few postural changes.

"It's all about confidence, holding yourself high. If you can do that, then there's nothing you need to worry about", Amara said, stepping into the bathroom to touch up her makeup.

Lonnie and Jane stared at her through the bathroom door with incredulous eyes. Neither of them could believe she'd done that, and Jane couldn't believe Amara was _right_. It was getting harder and harder to hate this girl. Jane was suddenly overcome with guilt for being jealous, for wanting to hate Amara. She hadn't done anything wrong. She'd done the opposite, in fact. A sharp knock at the door jolted her out of her thoughts just as Amara exited the bathroom.

* * *

Jay let out a shaky breath as he stared into the mirror, his eyes glowing gold with slit pupils. He'd been trying for hours to turn it off, but of course, his body refused to listen, reacting to his obvious nerves. What if he couldn't turn it off before tonight, before he was supposed to pick up Amara? Or even worse, what if he could turn it off before, but then something happened during the Heritage Festival, and _then_ his eyes started glowing? What if Amara saw them? She'd be so freaked out she'd run the other direction and never want to speak to him again.

Well, actually no. The worst case scenario would be that she'd never trust him again. The notion of it tightened his chest with anxiety, but he quickly shook his head and sucked in a breath. "Hey! You okay in there? We have to go pick up the girls in half an hour!", Carlos called from the other side.

"Ah, yeah! Just a sec", Jay called back, hoping that Carlos didn't think there was anything wrong.

' _Okay, dude. You've gotta pull it together. You're going to be around a lot of people. You can't lose it, not tonight. No matter what happens, you_ have _to control it. Force it down if you have to_ ', he told himself.

The second that particular notion got into his head, a deep pain radiated throughout his entire body, bringing him to his knees. He clutched his head as he folded into himself, trying to stifle the choked sounds coming from him. ' _You cannot deny your blood. You cannot deny what you truly are',_ a foreign part of him cooed softly.

' _Watch me_ ', Jay responded, sharp pain coursing through his head as he stood back up on trembling legs.

' _You would not have so much grief and pain if you stopped fighting'_ , the foreign part of him said.

"No!", Jay shouted at the mirror, his eyes glowing brighter than ever before. His reflection stared back at him angrily, scales in the contours of his face. His reflection hissed, its mouth opened wide, flashing a pair of fangs sharper and more narrow than any needle in existence.

"Jay? Jay?", he heard a muffled voice say. "Jay!".

"What?", Jay said, his head snapping towards the sound, jolted from his stupor.

"You've been staring at that mirror forever. I didn't know you were _that_ in love with yourself", Carlos said as he walked towards the door.

Jay's head whipped back to the mirror, his dark eyes and human skin back where they belonged; no scales, no fangs, only him.

' _It was only a vision_ ', he realized. ' _It was only a vision'._ He must've been going crazy then.

"Yo! Son of Gaston! Quit messing around, we have to go" Carlos called from the entrance to their room.

Jay closed his eyes, letting out a relieved sigh as he ran his hands through his hair and then up and down his face. He set his hands back down on the counter to steady himself, looking back up into the mirror, his eyes wandering to the slightly puzzled gaze reflected near his own as Carlos stood from the open doorway. "Dude, come on! Let's go", Carlos said, beckoning his friend forward.

"I'm coming", Jay snapped. Quickly shaking the remnants of the vision from his mind, he pushed off of the countertop, inhaling shakily as he walked out the door with Carlos, stealing one last glance from the mirror to make sure he still looked human, even though his fears made him feel anything but.

* * *

Carlos _knew_ something was up. He knew something was up from the haunted look on the son of Jafar's face as they walked through the halls in silence. He had always known, and now, the way his friend stood in front of the mirror with glazed over eyes only confirmed his hunch. Now, Carlos was _certain_ that he wasn't imagining things. Auradon must've been softening Jay, because Carlos could clearly remember a time when Jay could craft lies as smooth and sweet as honey, when the only expression he had was his poker face.

' _At least now I know for sure I'm not crazy_ ', Carlos thought to himself. For tonight, he would let the matter lie, but soon, he'd have to figure out how he was going to go about handling this, because he knew that Jay wasn't going to tell him anything. His thoughts traveled back to last Friday in the Archives, and he recalled the Wisps surrounding Jay. If he could only remember the word they'd used.

' _Carlos, now is not the time to be solving puzzles. Tonight, you're going to have fun with the girl of your dreams and you're not going to concern yourself with places that possibly carry every secret about the known world, and maybe even the unknown world. You're not going to think about underground tunnels or the fact that Ben's parents and possibly the rest of the Heroes know about what the Eclipse is. You're going to leave it all at the door for one night and you're going to enjoy yourself. That's final',_ he told himself as he shook his head back and forth, focusing on more important things as the two made their way to Mal and Evie's room in silence.

* * *

 **Hey Guys! Once again, I've returned to the land of the living! I know you guys have heard me say this a few times and you'll continue to hear me say it because it's true: if you guys only knew how many times I'd scrapped and rewritten this chapter. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed the 6500+ word chapter and thank you so so much for your patience.**

 **Feel free to leave a review with any comments, concerns, or any constructive criticism you may have about the story and tell me what you think of the story so far. If you have any questions about the story so far, please feel free to PM me. I love hearing feedback from you guys and I promise, more exciting stuff will happen in future chapters.**

 **Until next time, my loyal readers!**


End file.
